The 12-hour TikTok ban is a microcosm of the overstepping of Trump’s executive power

The supposed triviality of a social media app getting banned for only 12 hours is a misleading misnomer of a greater problem with the incumbent president. Within the 22 days he has been in office, he has consistently overstepped his executive powers to the detriment of the American people.
On Saturday, Jan. 18, TikTok was banned for 12 hours and then revoked, seemingly by Trump’s jurisdiction with a message on the app: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.” This is due to an executive order that Trump signed that paused the law that bans TikTok. Ironically, in his past term, Trump actually signed an executive order in order to ban TikTok from the U.S.
Trump’s ability to ban and unban TikTok largely on a whim is indicative of his mentality towards the presidency. Simply because he has won the presidency does not give him free reign to create orders that are not under his powers.
Trump himself said matter-of-factly, “Essentially, with TikTok, I have the right to sell it or close it.” His casual and unprofessional approach towards the presidency is the root of his problems in office and serves as a foretelling for the future of the U.S. as we know it.
The TikTok banning and unbanning is a microcosm of the Trump Administration in general. As we continue to observe his presidency, we will see his violations of the separation of powers persist throughout all manners of the country, whether it be through tariffs or human rights violations.
We can already see this smaller, insignificant problem of the TikTok ban manifesting through the dozens of executive actions that Trump has signed in just the 22 days he has been in office. He has signed executive actions that dictate private sector innovation, domestic energy production, declaring a national emergency at the border and imposing tariffs on Mexico, China and Canada.
Currently, Trump has issued exactly 54 executive orders so far during his term, when within his entire last term he only issued 220. So not only are his executive actions questionable if under his jurisdiction, but also occurring at a vastly higher rate than any other recent president.
Though these factors don’t necessarily dictate the quality of the presidency as a whole, it is a sure-fire sign of what kind of violations await the U.S. people. As we see prices of goods soar due to tariffs or immigrants being deported out of the country in great rounds, a great caution must be taken.
TikTok being unbanned might seem like Trump having some conscientiousness about the American people, but it is a large warning sign for how he is functioning in other aspects of the nation.