The chief executive of TikTok plans to attend President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration and has been invited to sit in a position of honor on the dais, where former presidents, family members and other important guests traditionally are seated, two people familiar with the plans said on Wednesday.
The invitation to the executive, Shou Chew, went out from the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the inauguration on Monday. Mr. Chew will join Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on the dais, along with other tech executives at the event, according to two people with knowledge of the planning.
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, declined to comment.
Mr. Trump’s support for TikTok marks a stunning reversal from 2020, when he tried during his first term to block the app in the United States and force its sale to American companies. He warmed up to the company last year, particularly after he and his campaign surged in popularity on TikTok during last year’s election.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly talked about how content about him and his campaign has performed well on TikTok. His advisers saw value in engaging with the site and have said it helped him reach younger voters and those who tuned out mainstream media.
The Trump administration’s embrace of Mr. Chew is significant as the app teeters on the brink of death in the United States. Congress passed a law last year saying that ByteDance had to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese company or face a ban in the United States as of Jan. 19, citing national security concerns. TikTok has been gambling for the better part of a year that it can defeat the law in courts. More recently, it has set its sights on aiming to reach another solution with the Trump administration to avoid an outright sale. The Supreme Court is set to rule on the law in the coming days.
