TikTok dodges a ban — for now

Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok; the US ambassador to Brazil reportedly wants the country to help Trump's reelection effort. Tonight's Sentences was written by Cameron Peters. TOP NEWS A TikTok sale deadline after Trump threatens ban Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images - After weeks of speculation about a looming TikTok ban, the next 45 days could well decide the Chinese-owned video app’s future. As of Sunday, Microsoft is officially on the clock to finalize a deal for the app before the US proceeds with a ban. [[Reuters / Greg Roumeliotis, Echo Wang, and Matt Spetalnick](] - That news comes after President Donald Trump stepped on Microsoft negotiations with TikTok owner ByteDance by announcing a legally dubious ban on Friday. At the time, Trump said he wasn’t interested in a potential sale to Microsoft — a position he’s since reversed. [[CNBC / Riya Bhattacharjee, Amanda Macias, and Jordan Novet](] - Lawmakers from both parties, as well as the White House, have long been leery of TikTok’s ties to China and the accompanying data security risks, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US last year launched a review of TikTok. [[Ars Technica / Kate Cox](] - TikTok maintains that it’s fully autonomous from the Chinese government and that no US user data is stored in the country, but scrutiny on the app has continued to increase as broader US-China tensions grow. [[Recode / Shirin Ghaffary](] - It’s unclear what mechanism could be used to actually implement a ban on TikTok in the US, though Trump maintains — questionably — that he has executive authority to do so. One alternative would be to have CFIUS force a sale rather than banning the platform. [[Protocol / David Pierce](] - If a ban does somehow come to pass, it likely won’t be particularly well-received — TikTok is massively popular, both in the US and internationally. This spring, the app surpassed 2 billion global downloads. [[TechCrunch / Manish Singh](] - A ban would also upset the ecosystem that has grown up around the platform. As the New York Times’s Taylor Lorenz explains, the app’s lighthearted style can sometimes obscure its function both as a springboard for entertainment careers and as a tool for youth activism. [[NYT / Taylor Lorenz](] - For now, though, negotiations continue: Microsoft is reportedly interested not just in the app’s US operations but also those in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. With Microsoft’s backing, a sale could vault TikTok into the top tier of media platforms, alongside Facebook and YouTube. [[The Verge / Tom Warren](] - But Trump could still complicate any potential deal. On Monday, he suggested that the US government should get portion of the proceeds from a sale — a proposition that's not just unprecedented, but, as Axios's Dan Primack points out, verging on outright extortion. [[Axios / Fadel Allassan](] For some US ambassadors, it's Trump first - According to new reporting by two Brazilian newspapers, the US ambassador to Brazil has a new scheme to help bolster President Donald Trump’s troubled reelect — by lowering Brazilian ethanol tariffs. [[Vox / Anya van Wagtendonk](] - Lower tariffs would be a win for Iowa, where ethanol is a major export. But framing a request in terms of partisan politics is verboten for US diplomats, and could even constitute a violation of the Hatch Act. [[NYT / Ernesto Londoño, Manuela Andreoni, and Letícia Casado](] - On Friday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to Todd Chapman, the ambassador, asking for him about the veracity of the reports and requesting documentation in support of his answer. [[Washington Post / Karoun Demirjian](] - Chapman isn’t the only US ambassador to have made headlines for reportedly misusing his office in recent weeks. In July, a New York Times scoop revealed that Trump allegedly directed the US ambassador to the UK to steer a golf tournament to a Trump property in Scotland. [[NYT / Mark Landler, Lara Jakes, and Maggie Haberman](] - Trump has denied the story, but the allegations were credible enough that the State Department inspector general launched an investigation into the issue last year. The report has since been completed, but remains classified. [[NBC News / Andrea Mitchell and Abigail Williams](] - The inspector general, who was removed and replaced by an ally of the White House in May, was reportedly also investigating the UK ambassador, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, for a slew of racist and sexist comments made during his time as ambassador. [[CNN / Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, and Nicole Gaouette](] MISCELLANEOUS Canada is understandably unamused by American boaters sneaking into the country. [[NPR / Martha Ann Overland](] - The Manhattan DA’s office appears to be investigating President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization for fraud [[NYT / William K. Rashbaum and Benjamin Weiser](] - How the 19th*, a brand-new nonprofit newsroom, got its start. [[The Cut / Angelina Chapin](] - “The U.S. fundamentally failed in ways that were worse than I ever could have imagined.” [[The Atlantic / Ed Yong](] - The “Suburban Lifestyle Dream” tweet, explained [[Vox / Matthew Yglesias](] VERBATIM "Teachers don’t feel safe. Most parents said in a survey that they’re 'very concerned' about sending their kids back to school. So why are we getting bullied into opening? This district isn’t ready to open. I can’t have more people getting sick. Why are they threatening our funding?" 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