Each of these moves represents a significant break from the traditional relationship the US government has had with private industry. But none has as much potential to affect the daily life of average Americans as Trump’s proposed plan to transfer ownership of TikTok from its current parent, the Chinese company ByteDance, to a group of US investors.
US President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term so far reimagining the US government as the world’s most high-profile activist investor. In June, his administration secured a “golden share” of US Steel, which he said would allow America to control the company even after its acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel.
Two months later, the US took a 10% stake in the floundering chipmaker Intel. Trump’s broader economic strategy hinges on imposing tariffs, in part because doing so gives him leverage as he negotiates deals with companies looking to avoid them. His administration did this with Pfizer in September, when the drugmaker agreed to sell prescriptions directly to consumers on a website called TrumpRx in exchange for tariff relief.
