The U.S. Government Can't Buy TikTok—But a Sovereign Wealth Fund is Sorely Needed

President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week to establish a sovereign wealth fund for the United States.

One of the reasons Trump wants to establish the fund is so the government could purchase TikTok, an app he once wanted banned for national security reasons.

Trump overturned former President Joe Biden’s order to ban TikTok from U.S. usage right before leaving office. The idea of banning TikTok had bipartisan interest before Trump left office in 2021.

As soon as Trump returned to office, he enabled U.S. citizens to continue using TikTok, but not downloading it.

Trump initially pushed for TikTok parent company, ByteDance, to sell the short-form video app’s U.S. assets to an American company—which would, in theory, remove all national security issues related to the Chinese government’s involvement with the platform.

As a U.S. entity, TikTok would fit into the country’s expanding portfolio of legalized addictive substances and activities.

This is allowed under U.S. law, of course. But the government’s interference in a social media platform sets a slippery slope of state-influenced media.

Is this a promise or another Trump over-exaggeration? Right now, the likelihood leans towards the latter. The fund will be established “within the next year,” and it makes more sense for another decision to be made sooner on TikTok by then considering its global popularity.

As an aside, however, a sovereign wealth fund is something the U.S. has needed for a long time. Investments in U.S. companies never falls short, but it does on infrastructure. Trump also mentioned dedicating a portion of the funds to highways, airports, and other areas that would benefits a wide-range of citizens.

How will it be funded? Well, we don’t know yet. But these funds have grown to extraordinary size in an extensive list of Asian countries as well as Norway, which has the largest in the world.

Norway’s $1.7 trillion fund is fed by the country’s energy revenues as well as foreign stock gains. It uses the gains to help with government expenditures as well as giving back to its citizens through pensions and other programs.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which is nearing $1 trillion, also invests in projects to help uplift the country. It also invests in foreign opportunities like the LIV golf league, which was created in 2022 to challenge the PGA.

With such a strong push from the Trump administration to slash government spending, headlined by the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency, it shouldn’t surprise that Trump wants to turn his version of “wasted dollars” to an investment back into the country.

Whether the fund will be utilized in ways that actually benefit the greater whole remains to be seen. But it is promising to see the United States latch onto an idea that has had so much success in other nations.

You haven’t heard from me for a while, and such an extended absence will soon be a thing of the past.

I’m making some changes in my life that will free up time for me to write here on a consistent basis.

Also expect a new sister newsletter that will focus less on business and more on everything else in life.

Stay tuned!