Donald Trump wanted to ban it, now he wants to control it” – Martina Navratilova accuses President-elect after Mar-a-Lago meeting with TikTok CEO

Martina Navratilova accused Donald Trump of wanting to control TikTok following the US President-elect’s Mar-a-Lago meeting with Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of the social media platform. Navratilova recalled how Trump previously wanted to ban the platform in the US and opined that the President-elect now desires to leverage its influence on the country’s young people.

On Monday, December 16, CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins reported via an X (formerly Twitter) post that Trump was meeting the TikTok CEO at the President-elect’s resort Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. The meeting came in the aftermath of Trump’s suggesting that he might reconsider the impending suspension of the social media platform in the country.

“News — Trump is meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago Club today, I’m told. That comes hours after the president-elect suggested he might reverse course on the impending ban on the app in the US, as TikTok is now asking the Supreme Court to step in,” Collins wrote.

Collins’ CNN colleague Brian Stelter added that the Mar-a-Lago meeting between the two marked the first time the pair interacted since Trump’s victory in the 2024 US presidential elections. Former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova took notice of Stelter’s post and wrote:

“Of course he is. Wants to control that site too since so many young people get their news there. Does the (sic) wanted to ban it, now he wants to control it”

Navratilova is a fiercely vocal critic of Trump. In another recent instance, the Czech-American tennis legend lauded Canadian Member of Parliament Charlie Angus over his criticism of the US President-elect.