Trump likely overstepped legal authority with TikTok download ban

President Trump potentially breached legal authority by issuing an emergency order to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores, according to a federal judge that granted an injunction against the directive on Sunday.

U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols of the District of Columbia in an opinion released on Monday said Trump "likely exceeded the lawful bounds" of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, reports Variety. A day earlier, Nichols granted an injunction to halt the impending ban.The IEEPA allows the president to deem an entity "an unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." Designed solely for emergency action, the act provides authority to freeze assets and circumvent transactions related to the threatening agency.

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