Stephen L. Carter, Columnist

How Trump's TikTok Ban Reprieve Could Work

The president can’t suspend a duly enacted law but he can use prosecutorial discretion to achieve the same end.

January 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM UTC

Stephen L. Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a professor of law at Yale University and author of “Invisible: The Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America’s Most Powerful Mobster.”

Just because he can doesn’t mean he should.
Photographer: NurPhoto/NurPhoto

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As US TikTok users rejoice at the site’s return from its 14-hour hiatus, curmudgeonly critics — me included — wonder whether President Donald Trump can really get around the congressional statute aimed at banning it.

The short answer: Of course, he can.