President Donald Trump has told US firms they have 45 days to stop doing business with TikTok and WeChat, claiming the Chinese apps are a threat to national security.
The announcement comes as Microsoft is in talks to buy TikTok ahead of a 15 September deadline set by Mr Trump.
The point about this executive order coming as Microsoft is in talks to try and buy TikTok is interesting. Rather than classic old school protectionism, flailing at other countries' superior tech giants in an attempt to put some road blocks in their way, is this latest bluster from Trump an attempt to facilitate American companies' tech piracy by pushing Chinese-owned tech giants to start selling their US offices to American firms?
After all, government-backed technology piracy is a noble American tradition spanning back centuries:
https://www.history.com/news/industrial ... ies-europe
https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-02-18/ ... as-history
https://apnews.com/b40414d22f2248428ce11ff36b88dc53