President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order outlining plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund with intentions to use it as an economic security tool and a potential buyer for popular social media platform TikTok.
The president directed the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments to develop plans for the sovereign wealth fund, which may also include projects aiming at funding highways and airports, The New York Times previously reported. “Such plan shall include recommendations for funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model. The plan shall also include an evaluation of the legal considerations for establishing and managing such a fund, including any need for legislation,” wrote Trump in his executive order.
Trump also touched on the possibility of utilizing the fund to purchase TikTok when he signed the order on Monday. “Other countries have sovereign wealth funds, and they’re much smaller countries and they’re not the United States,” Trump was quoted as saying. “We have tremendous potential in this country. That’s what’s happened just in a short period of time. As an example, TikTok. We’re going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, and perhaps not. If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we won’t.”
TikTok, a social media platform, was temporarily taken offline on January 19 after a federal law directed the app to divest from its parent company, Bytedance, or face a ban on all U.S. mobile devices. Trump later signed an executive order delaying the law’s enforcement by 75 days, promising it would be bought by one of the “multiple parties” he had been in contact with.
Trump wouldn’t be the first politician to introduce the idea of a sovereign wealth fund in the U.S. Former President Joe Biden proposed the establishment of a fund last year geared towards investing in national security, while Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) in 2024 introduced a bill that would create a federal commission to examine whether the U.S. should implement one.
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Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with over six years of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. Amanda received her degree in journalism and government and politics at St. John’s University. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado with her partner. In her free time, Amanda enjoys running, cooking, and watching the latest drama show.