Trump administration asserted sweeping power in seeking to bypass TikTok ban

Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Donald Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show.

In letters to companies including Apple and Google, Bondi wrote that Trump had decided that shutting down TikTok would interfere with his “constitutional duties,” so the law banning the social media app must give way to his “core presidential national security and foreign affairs…