Donald Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, expressed reservations on Monday about the proposed ban on the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok in the U.S. He argued that such a ban would only strengthen Meta’s Facebook platform.

In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump, who served as U.S. president from 2017 to 2021, voiced concerns about national security and data privacy regarding TikTok.

He acknowledged both positive and negative aspects of the platform, stating, “There are a lot of people on TikTok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on TikTok who will go crazy without it.”

Trump emphasized his view of Facebook as an “enemy of the people” and suggested that banning TikTok would play into the hands of Meta, CNBC reported.

While TikTok, owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, has gained immense popularity globally for its short videos, concerns have arisen about its Chinese ownership and the potential sharing of private user data at the behest of the Beijing government.

Chinese companies, including ByteDance, are obligated to disclose such information under China’s National Intelligence Law of 2017.

In 2020, the Trump administration attempted to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores due to these concerns.

Trump later directed ByteDance to divest TikTok within 90 days, a move that did not materialize even after potential bids, including one from Microsoft, were considered for TikTok’s U.S. business.

Written by B.C. Begley