Tik Tok Ban, Stargate, Executive Actions

Jan 24, 2025

This post will be about Tik Tok ban and subsequent extension, Stargate and Trumps other Executive Actions

Tik Tok

The law required that starting January 19, TikTok be banned in the US unless it sells to a buyer from America or one of its allies. Trump told reporters that he would be open to the sale of only a 50% stake, and that he changed his mind on TikTok because he “got to use it.”

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/01/22/tech/tiktok-sale-deal-bill-ford

From Wikipedia

ByteDance's owners include investors outside of China (60%), its founders and Chinese investors (20%), and employees (20%)
ByteDance is backed financially by Jeff Yass's Susquehanna International Group, Primavera Capital Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, and Hillhouse Capital Group
As of November 2024, the company's board consisted of the following directors:[56]

Liang Rubo, CEO of ByteDance
Arthur Dantchik, managing director of Susquehanna International
William E. Ford, CEO of General Atlantic
Xavier Niel, French businessman and owner of Iliad SA
Neil Shen, founding and managing partner of HongShan

On 28 August 2020, China announced an update to its export control rules that, according to experts, could give Chinese authorities a say in any potential sale of ByteDance's technology to foreign firms

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance

One of ByteDance biggest investor is Jeff Yass (15%)

Digital World Acquisition Corporation, merged in March with Trump Media & Technology Group

Jeffrey Yass owns a large holding in

Digital World Acquisition Corporation. He is worth an estimated $40 billion and also owns Susquehanna International Group, a trading company that owned large blocks of stock in ByteDance (TikTok’s parent)

Reportedly, the merger not only prevented Trump’s Truth Social app from going bankrupt but also let Trump take the combined company public, putting an estimated 3 billion dollars in his own personal pocket.

Yass’ holds $15 billion in ByteDance stock — the largest holding outside China, representing 7% of the company’s stock

After the Trump/Yass initial meeting the former President suddenly reversed his opposition to TikTok. As ABC News reported at the time:

“[T]he former president has been rebuilding his relationship with a GOP megadonor who reportedly has a major financial stake in the popular social media platform.”

The Hartmann Report

Trump is a Whisker Away from the Presidency - How is this Possible?

The song that was inspired by this article is here…

4 months ago · 546 likes · 60 comments · Thom Hartmann

So anyways, Trump, Biden and Congress are forcing the sale of 50% of Tik Tok , 1% of which is owned by the Chinese government (golden share) and the majority is owned by foreign (including US ) investors and employees with non-Chinese citizenship for what reason? The Board is controlled by non-Chinese citizens and CEO is not a Chinese citizen and the Us data is stored on Oracle servers in Texas

Trump is OK with Musk buying that 50%. Reminder, 50% of Musks Teslas are made in China so will a Musk controlled Tik Tok be any less free of Chinese influence.

And seeing what Musk has done to Twitter by turning it into an Echo Chamber suppressing speech (limiting reach) he does not like do we really want him to control Tik Tok too.

(I recently deactivated my Twitter account there as its just one lie after another being promoted by his paid influencers).

China can block any deal

The Cyberspace Administration of China is the country's main internet watchdog.
That means the Chinese government now owns 1% of Beijing Douyin Information Service, which is the domestic Chinese unit of Bytedance. Wu Shugang, an official from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog and censor, sits on its board.
Analysts have said the “golden shares” provide a way for the Chinese government to get more directly involved with the day-to-day businesses of tech companies, including in the content they provide to the public.
Chew has admitted that the “golden share” exists. But he said it was for the purpose of internet licensing for the Chinese business.
ByteDance said on its website that it’s a common arrangement for companies operating news and information platforms in China and doesn’t affect itsoperations outside the country.
In 2018, China amended its National Intelligence Law, which requires any organization or citizen to support, assist and cooperate with national intelligence work.
That means ByteDance is legally bound to help with gathering intelligence.
In 2021, China introduced a new data security law, which applies to data processing activities conducted outside of the country that may “harm the national security or public interests.”
There is also a cybersecurity law in China, which says the state will take measures to monitor, prevent and handle cybersecurity risks and threats “arising both within and outside the PRC’s territory.”
These vague and broad laws apply to technology companies and may be used to regulate them.
Can Beijing prevent the sale of TikTok?
Yes, Beijing has the legal ability to do so and has already indicated it would.
In August 2020, following an attempt by the Trump administration to force the sale of TikTok, Beijing revised its export control rules to cover a variety of technologies it deemed sensitive, including technology that appears similar to TikTok’s personalized information recommendation services.
A few years later, in early 2023, a Commerce Ministry spokeswoman said in the government’s first direct response to the matter that China would oppose any forced sale of TikTok.
This is because a sale or divestiture of the app would involve “exporting technology” and had to be approved by the Chinese government, said Shu Yuting, the spokeswoman.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/03/18/tech/tiktok-bytedance-china-ownership-intl-hnk

What does it tell you if China doesn’t block a Musk led deal.

Stargate

AI is of course the big thing. Since ChatGBT has shown it can pass the Turing test its opened my eyes. Many jobs in the US will soon be toast. Doctors, Accountants, Teachers, Truck Drivers, Programmers, Reporters, etc. The list is too long.

Trump was way ahead with this when he set up the NSCAI inn2018 headed by Eric Schmidt. The conclusion was we needed to be more like China to compete.

AI like Crypto Blockchain require large amounts of Electricity to run. No way around it but that Nuclear Power is going to be the solution although the other options is depopulation of what will become useless eaters with AI and Robotics replacing their jobs. The combination of AI and Robotics will also .reduce jobs in Manufacturing, Construction, Police, Military

Apparently this project was already in the works before Trump but Trump will be able to remove regulatory hurdles, fast track permits and provide government land. In return they can by his TSMC Stock of Trump Meme Coins. Being President can bring in the $$$ now that SCOTUS has given bribery a green light and Presidents immunity from Official Acts

Anyways, this is the project

The venture is a partnership between OpenAI, Oracle, Japan's Softbank - led by Masayoshi Son - and MGX, a tech investment arm of the United Arab Emirates government.
The companies said the new venture, which was in the works before Trump took office, had $100bn in funding available immediately, with the rest to come over four years, creating an estimated 100,000 jobs.
Stargate's first data centre is under construction in Texas, according to Oracle's chief technology officer, Larry Ellison, and more will be built in other US locations.
Amazon has been pouring money into the centres at a similar scale, announcing two projects worth about $10bn each in just the last two months.
In a report last year, McKinsey said that global demand for data centre capacity would more than triple by 2030, growing between 19% and 27% annually by 2030.
For developers to meet that demand, the consultancy estimated that at least twice the capacity would have to be built by 2030 as has been constructed since 2000.
But analysts have warned that the process is likely to be bogged down by issues such as power and land constraints and permitting.
Trump, who has claimed credit for fostering business investment, promised he would intervene to help the industry.
"I'm going to help a lot through emergency declarations because we have an emergency," he said, stressing the importance of keeping AI in the US.
Trump said his government would "make it possible for them to get that production done very easily."
In one of his final acts in the White House, former President Joe Biden put forward rules that would restrict exports of AI-related chips to dozens of countries around the world, saying the move would help the US control the industry.
He also issued orders related to the development of data centres on government land, which spotlighted a role for clean energy in powering the centres.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4m84d2xz2o.amp

The thing about AI is it can be a force of good or evil. It all depends on how it is trained, like a child or a dog. Thats why its so important to regulate it and not give it human rights like corporations. Biden made some effort to regulate it but Trump has rolled that back

Among the cornucopia of executive orders that President Donald Trump enacted this week was a repeal of Joseph Biden’s order on AI. Launched in October 2023, it called on major AI companies to share safety test results with the government. It was a simple list of requests. The executive order couldn’t legally force tech firms to do anything, but it was the strongest signal so far that the US government was serious about the safety and oversight of AI systems.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-01-22/elon-musk-silence-on-the-risk-of-ai-doom-is-deafening

In the same article they point out Musks concerns

In March 2023, he signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI, warning it posed “profound risks to society and humanity.” A few months later he told BBC News that AI could cause “civilization destruction,” comparing it with nuclear weapons. Musk ended his longtime friendship with Google co-founder Larry Page over an argument about AI risk, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography, and he co-founded OpenAI over concerns that Google wasn’t paying enough attention to the technology’s existential threat to humanity.
“I think we need to regulate AI safety,” Musk said in 2023. “It is, I think, actually a bigger risk to society than cars or planes or medicine.”

Yet now he is silent except to question if the investors have enough money.

Larry Ellison who is the founder of Oracle in an effort to sell Stargate to the public created a bit of an uproar in the MAHA community by saying AI can assist in the development of early detection of cancer via blood tests and treatment with personalized mRNA cancer Vaccines.

There is quite a bit of difference between taking a mRnA vaccine when you are healthy to prevent a cold and taking one to stop a cancer that you already have and that will kill you. So I have no problem with the mRNA Cancer Vaccine.

However, the early detection of cancer based on blood tests is rather alarming. This is because there are many unknowns. We are constantly creating cancerous cells that are subsequently then destroyed by our immune system preventing or drastically slowing cancer growth. In a small percentage of cases, due to immune suppression or a immune defect these cancer cells are allowed to grow and form tumors that cause symptoms and metastasize and kill us.

False positives or detection of cancer cells that are destined to be destroyed by your own immune system could lead to unnecessary treatments which may have serious adverse effects. Thats the real issue here, not the mRNA vaccine.

Remember, if those who train AI on detecting cancer have a profit motive to treat Cancer, then AI can be trained to find a lot of cancer. If you control what AI can learn, you control what it does learn. GIGO. Garbage In Garbage Out. For example if AI only training tool was Twitter it would be bat shit crazy. If you only show AI data that supports finding lots of cancer it will find lots of cancer.

This points to the need to regulate AI to ensure it’s not used inappropriately. It also should not be given the same rights as citizens like SCOTUS says Corporations have.

On the subject of cancer I recently attempted to query Chat GBT and its Chinese Competitor DeepSeek. I wont bore you on the details but as I was fact checking their answers I discovered that Biden’s Cancer Moonshot pages were deleted from the White House Web Site. Still available on wayback machine (last saved up to January 16, 2025).

And Googles AI would not give an overview

Executive Actions

I will conclude with a summary of Trumps Executive Actions. From Chat GBT. My comments in italics

I will note that there was not much related to MAHA here, although I guess that has to wait for RFK Jr nomination

Here’s a brief summary of each executive action:

Defense & National Security

1. Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion:

Strengthens federal support for states to combat invasions, such as mass illegal border crossings.

I have determined that the current state of the southern border reveals that the Federal Government has failed in fulfilling this obligation to the States and hereby declare that an invasion is ongoing at the southern border, which requires the Federal Government to take measures to fulfill its obligation to the States.

This provides the justification to use the Military although under Biden over 2000 Military were supporting efforts

2. Protecting the American People Against Invasion:

Bolsters border security and immigration enforcement to address threats to public safety and sovereignty.

Establish Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTFs) in all States nationwide. The objective of each HSTF is to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States, dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks, end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children, and ensure the use of all available law enforcement tools to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United State

Identification of Unregistered Illegal Aliens. …and take all appropriate action to ensure the assessment and collection of all fines and penalties that the Secretary of Homeland Security is authorized by law to assess and collect from aliens unlawfully present in the United States, including aliens who unlawfully entered or unlawfully attempted to enter the United States, and from those who facilitate such aliens’ presence in the United States.

This might be the most important action. Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTFs) . Illegals = Terrorists. HSTF= Domestic Terrorist Police. Be interesting to see how many they hire

Sec. 9. Efficient Removals of Recent Entrants and Other Aliens.

Sec. 10. Detention Facilities. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall promptly take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources or establish contracts to construct, operate, control, or use facilities to detain removable aliens. The Secretary of Homeland Security, further, shall take all appropriate actions to ensure the detention of aliens apprehended for violations of immigration law pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their removal from the country, to the extent permitted by law.

Could be gearing up for mass detentions and deportations here. Cost?

Sec. 17. Sanctuary Jurisdictions. ….“sanctuary” jurisdictions, which seek to interfere with the lawful exercise of Federal law enforcement operations, do not receive access to Federal funds. Further, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall evaluate and undertake any other lawful actions, criminal or civil, that they deem warranted based on any such jurisdiction’s practices that interfere with the enforcement of Federal law.

Sanctuary Governors who don’t cooperate might find themselves in jails or detention camps

Sec. 21. Hiring More Agents and Officers. Subject to available appropriations, the Secretary of Homeland Security, through the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, shall take all appropriate action to significantly increase the number of agents and officers available to perform the duties of immigration officers

Again, how many more agents?

3. Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists:

Implements stronger measures to safeguard the U.S. from foreign terrorists and public safety risks.

Not all Terrorists are Foreign of course.

4. Declaring a National

Emergency at the Southern Border: Officially declares the border crisis a national emergency, enabling allocation of additional resources.

Border encounters have been fewer than during most of Trumps term following Bidens tougher measures shut down the border if illegal crossings reached an average of 2,500 migrants a day in a given week this past summer. Should have done it sooner. The Fentanyl is still coming in at legal border crossings by Americans

5. Clarifying the Military’s Role in Protecting Territorial Integrity:

Directs the military to take action to secure the border and assist in homeland defense.

Because of the “Invasion”.

6. Designating Cartels and Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations:

Labels specific criminal organizations as terrorists to intensify enforcement and sanctions.

Since many of the illegals are alleged to be part of cartels or criminal organizations this makes everyone a potential suspect subject to terrorism laws and everyone within 100 miles of a border or coastline has no 4th amendment rights if they are suspected of being or harboring an illegal alien.

Government Reform & Accountability

7. Reforming the Federal Hiring Process:

Replaces diversity quotas with merit-based hiring in government jobs.

8. Restoring Accountability for Career Senior Executives:

Reinstates accountability measures for senior government employees.

Making it easier to fire Senior Executives

9. Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions:

Ensures positions of power in the federal government are held by accountable professionals.

Bringing back Schedule F

10. Ending Radical DEI Programs:

Eliminates wasteful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from the federal government.

Good riddance.

11. Restoring Merit to Government Service:

Emphasizes qualifications and competency in federal hiring practices.

Yeah, but take away job security then hiring good people might be hard

12. Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government:

Prohibits agencies from using their power for political targeting or bias.

All for it.

Energy & Environment

13. Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential:

Opens Alaska’s natural resources for energy production.

Alaska like Canada and Greenland have huge Energy and Mineral Resources (on/off shore). Which is why we want Greenland and Canada.

Greenland and Canada in a union with US is not a new ifea. The Globalists at Club of Rome proposed it in 1973

The melding of Greenland with America is not new, as shown by this map, based on the “Regionalized and Adaptive Model of the Global World System” report produced by the globalist Club of Rome in 1973. Note that the North American region included Canada and Greenland, but excluded Mexico.

https://jamesperloff.net/donald-trump-rebranding-globalism-as-nationalism/

14. Declaring a National Energy Emergency:

Focuses on increasing domestic energy production to address high energy prices.

Oil and Gas producers control production to keep prices high. It costs money to extract oil/gas and lower prices cut into profits. Domestic Prices are based on the global market price. Increased supply at home wont necessarily lower prices. Besides, we produce light crude but require heavy crude to refine into gasoline and half of what we import comes from Canada.

15. Temporary Withdrawal of Offshore Wind Leasing:

Pauses offshore wind projects to review their environmental and economic impacts.

Save the Birds. All for it.

16. Unleashing American Energy:

Expands the production of domestic energy resources to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

Energy production in US at highest levels ever. Most of our imports are from Canada as the oil we produce is too light to refine into gasoline

He also calls for ending EV subsidies Funds to encourage electric-vehicle sales and manufacturing . However these were enshrined in legislation that the president cannot unilaterally repeal. Mr. Trump also cannot revoke rules that the Treasury Department and other government agencies established to determine how the money would be handed out.

17. Stopping Radical Environmentalism in Southern California:

Prioritizes water needs for California residents over environmental restrictions.

What happened to States Rights?

Social Issues

18. Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism:

Protects women’s rights and ensures federal policies reflect biological realities.

Sad that we have to even state something so obvious

19. Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship:

Upholds the integrity of U.S. citizenship by reducing pathways for fraud or abuse.

Ends Birthright citizenship for Illegals, but not retroactive. Those already born are citizens.

No objection to that really but then they become stateless. Thats about 300,000 births a year (2014 data )

Foreign Policy

20. America First Policy Directive to the Secretary of State:

Prioritizes U.S. interests in foreign policy decisions.

No problem with that

21. Reevaluating U.S. Foreign Aid:

Aligns foreign aid with American interests, cutting unnecessary spending.

Foreign aid typically makes up less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget although Ukraine and Israels Gaza War have pushed that up

22. Realigning the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program:

Revises refugee policies to align with national security concerns.

We dont actually admit many refugees. 60,000 in 2023.

23. Withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO:

Exits the World Health Organization, citing bias and inefficiency.

No problem with that.

24. America First Trade Policy:

Promotes trade agreements prioritizing U.S. workers and businesses.

Quite a lot here but mostly a list of things to look into to decide what to do but this is where he proposes setting up

External Revenue Service (ERS) to collect tariffs, duties, and other foreign trade-related revenues. This makes little sense since tariffs are paid by the US importers when goods arrive at US ports. There are no collection problems because goods are not released to importer until they pay the tariff to US Customs.

25. Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements:

Withdraws from treaties harmful to U.S. industries.

If you don’t honor treaties nobody will want to deal with you on new treaties

Taxation & Economic Reform

26. The OECD Global Tax Deal:

Rejects international tax agreements that undermine U.S. competitiveness.

The OECD Global Tax Deal means large companies would pay more taxes in countries where they have customers and less in countries where they have headquarters, employees, and operations. Additionally, the agreement sets out a global minimum tax of 15 percent, which would increase taxes on companies with earnings in low-tax jurisdictions.

Currently companies set up their head office in a tax haven and shift Global profits there to avoid tax even though they earn most of their profits in high tax countries

Technically the US is a corporate tax haven with effective tax rates for many global corporations in single digits, which is why we can’t have nice airports and high speed trains or cheap healthcare

27. Delivering Emergency Price Relief:

Introduces measures to fight inflation and lower living costs.

I dont see a lot of meat here that provides emergency relief for prices.

Federal Operations

28. Establishing a “Department of Government Efficiency”:

Creates a new department to streamline federal bureaucracy.

Actually he just renamed an existing Department called the United States Digital Service, which was created in 2014 by former President Barack Obama to improve government services through the use of technology. Now each Agency must devote 4 full time staff to DOGE efforts which reads more like focussing on tech software and AI. Right up Peter Thiel and Musks alley

29. Organization of the National Security Council:

Adjusts the structure of the National Security Council for efficiency.

The Secretary of the Treasury was elevated to a statutory member, reflecting a focus on economic aspects of national security.•

The inclusion of the Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy as a statutory member underscores an emphasis on health security.2.

Additional Members:

The Secretary of Homeland Security, a regular attendee under President Biden, is not listed in President Trump’s NSC, indicating a potential shift in focus or restructuring of responsibilities.•

The Secretary of the Interior and White House Chief of Staff are new additions in President Trump’s NSC, suggesting an expanded scope of domestic considerations in national security discussions

This sounds rather ominous to me. Why take Homeland Security out of the loop? Treasury and AG added, along with Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Sounds like Operation COVID II is in the works. Secretary of the Interior

30. Hiring Freeze: Temporarily halts federal hiring to evaluate staffing needs.

This order does not apply to military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security or public safety.

Moreover, nothing in this memorandum shall adversely impact the provision of Social Security, Medicare, or Veterans’ benefits.

This basically includes 90% of the civilian and military workforce that is exempt from the order.

31. Regulatory Freeze Pending Review: Suspends new regulations to review their necessity and impact.

This is not unusual

32. Return to In-Person Work: Ends remote work mandates for federal employees.

54% of federal employees are required to work on-site full time, and only about 10% are fully remote

Justice & Accountability

33. Restoring the Death Penalty: Reinstates capital punishment for federal crimes.

Fine but we know this is not a deterrent. Satisfied a blood lust and provides a scapegoat is all it does.

34. Granting Pardons for January 6th Offenses: Pardons individuals charged in connection with the Capitol events of January 6, 2021.

I never bought into J6 being an insurrection but some of those folks were violent and deserve to be in jail. I guess it sends a message that if you support Trump he will pardon any crime.

35. Holding Officials Accountable for Election Interference: Investigates and prosecutes election interference by former government officials.

Civic Engagement & Identity

Going after 51 former intelligence officials by revoking their security clearance. Probably should throw them in jail

36. Restoring Freedom of Speech:

Ends federal policies and programs censoring speech.

You don’t need to censor yourself when you got Billionaire supporters who control much of media (mainstream and alternative/social media). Remember, we had a ton of censorship in 2020.

37. Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture:

Encourages classical design for federal buildings.

Yawn

38. Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders:

Repeals prior orders deemed harmful to national interest.

Biden did the same.

Some of these will be challenged in court.

I probably should comment on the inauguration, although I did not watch it. I read the speech. It was fine. I guess it was too cold outside do they had it indoors although JFK 1961 inauguration was colder and followed a snow storm

At noon, Kennedy took the oath of office and gave his historic address in 22-degree temperatures. “The wind was blowing from the northwest at 19 mph making it feel like the temperature was 7°F above zero

https://archive.is/IjQEe

Some claim there were security concerns. DC was locked down as hard as the West Bank by Israel according to some.

As for what Musk was doing, well