Donald Trump's return to Washington has raised the surprising possibility that he may rescue TikTok from a federal ban.

Despite Trump's hawkish stance towards China, he has recently done a 180-degree turn on the social media app that some see as a spy tool for Beijing.

TikTok ban in question

The recent bi-partisan turn in D.C. against China was largely the result of Trump's historic 2015 presidential campaign when Trump highlighted China's rise as a major geopolitical threat to the United States.

Trump tried to ban TikTok during his first term, but recently has changed his view on the app, which is popular with Generation Z.

"We’re not doing anything with TikTok, but the other side is going to close it up, so if you like TikTok, go out and vote for Trump," Trump said in September.

TikTok's critics say the app is a national security threat, claiming its Chinese parent company, Byte Dance, gives Beijing a way to collect data from Americans and spread foreign propaganda. But some have defended the app, which is used by millions of Americans for entertainment, business, and political speech.

The bi-partisan backlash against China led Congress to adopt a ban on TikTok that President Biden signed into law in April.

The law, which TikTok is challenging in federal court under the First Amendment, requires ByteDance to either divest its stakes in TikTok by January 19, the day before Trump's inauguration, or face a ban. Trump could extend the deadline by 90 days if there is progress toward a sale.

Trump's U-turn

Trump - who has millions of TikTok followers - won re-election in a landslide in part because of a surge in youth support, his former adviser Kellyanne Conway told the Washington Post. 

"There are many ways to hold China to account outside alienating 180 million U.S. users each month. Trump recognized early on that Democrats are the party of bans — gas-powered cars, menthol cigarettes, vapes, plastic straws and TikTok — and to let them own that draconian, anti-personal-choice space."

Trump's prospective Cabinet includes prominent China hawks like Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl) and Congressman Michael Waltz (R-Fl.)

President Trump has options for unwinding the TikTok ban, including directing the Justice Department not to enforce it.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. “He will deliver.”