Trump promises TikTok a lifeline, and Starbucks’ grande policy shift

The one thing we know for sure about the TikTok situation is that it will be Donald Trump's problem (or opportunity). The rest is up in the air. For a story that is so close to the epilogue, this one is still playing out like only now just breaking news.

(Images courtesy Mitali Pattanaik [https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/mitalip_this-might-be-the-first-time-i-have-seen-activity-7286629285296054273-41E_] & Pete Davies [https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/petejadavies_wow-activity-7286598904643530753-i7kT]).

On Sunday, TikTok followed through with its vow to go dark (Thanks, Pete Davies !), and shortly thereafter Trump, who becomes president Monday, said he would on Monday sign an executive order extending the sell-or-ban deadline for 90 days — and asked platforms to restore access to TikTok’s app. Per the New York Times:

“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security.”

TikTok heard the call, and immediately began restoring service.

(VIDEO: Trump throws TikTok a lifeline, service restored after going dark for a few hours [https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/johncabell_trump-throws-tiktok-a-lifeline-service-restored-activity-7286803081218916352-Doja]

Like breaking news, things are happening fast: On Friday the Supreme Court upheld the law requiring TikTok's China owner ByteDance to sell to non-China interests by Jan. 19. And like the dog which actually caught the car, President Biden — whose last full day is Jan. 19 — said he would not enforce the law he signed into law. If enforced It would have been the likes of Apple and Google who’d be liable — to the tune of $5,000 a download.

So the table is now set for a most interesting week: TikTok lives for at least another 90 days, Trump is sworn in on Monday, with TikTok CEO Shou Chew and China's Vice President Han Zheng in attendance. Add TikTok to a list of some 25 day one executive actions Reuters reported last month would be on Trumps agenda:

And despite expected day one EOs on such hot button issues as immigration and oil drilling, somehow the fate of a China-owned social network half the country uses might get as much or even more attention.

One detail that might get more attention: Trump’s Truth Social post also said he thought it would be a good idea for “The United States to have a 50% ownership” in the social network. Per NBC News:

Trump said he “would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” and confirmed that the move would “save TikTok.” The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about whether he meant ownership should be held by a U.S.-based company or the U.S. government itself.

We are beyond unprecedented.

Keep up-to-date with LinkedIn News coverage here.

Brian Niccol came to Starbucks as a disrupter. The Chipotle superstar had a lot to work with but somehow the brand had strayed, leaving workers and customers morose.

One of his first official acts was a declaration of principles, four "key areas" for a turnaround that included:

Empowering our baristas to take care of our customers: We’ll make sure our baristas have the tools and time to craft great drinks every time, delivered personally to each customer. For our partners, we’ll build on our tradition of leadership in retail by making Starbucks the best place to work, with career opportunities and a clear path to growth.

and

Reestablishing Starbucks as the community coffeehouse: We’re committed to elevating the in-store experience — ensuring our spaces reflect the sights, smells and sounds that define Starbucks. Our stores will be inviting places to linger, with comfortable seating, thoughtful design and a clear distinction between “to-go” and “for-here” service.

It's not clear what's been cut from the menu other than those olive-infused coffee drinks that Howard Schultz described, in his third run as CEO, as "transformational."

Far clearer is the move announced this week on that second item. Starbucks said ita cafés would no longer be inviting places to linger for people who just want to hang out or use the bathroom. Paying customers didn't like the largesse and some of the "clientele" it attracted.?

It seems like low-hanging fruit. Nobody really cares about the person who sits in the corner with headphones nursing a latte while tapping away on a laptop. It wasn't about the occasional person desperate for the restroom. It was, frankly, about the people or posses who had nowhere else to be, making full use of the best real estate in the place indefinitely, because the surrounding community couldn't or wouldn't accommodate them.

“I appreciate it because I do not like all the homeless people that hang out in Starbucks,” customer Tara Schultz (no relation) told wptv.com. “Oh, they’re always going in there. Especially when it gets cold and they’re sleeping on the couches that they have in there."

But who gets to enforce this?

Starbucks says its workers "will be allowed" to ask people to leave (as if they were dying to no longer be restained). They'll be trained on how to approach the kind of situation that even cops would rather avoid, and how and when to call the cops.

What could possibly go wrong.

It's a sort of only-in-New-York story: The Big Apple joined London, Milan, Singapore and Stockholm in a small club of big cities with congestion pricing.

The idea is to reduce traffic from the southernmost tip of Manhattan to where Central Park begins, and to raise revenue for mass transit. Given that New Yorkers are notorious for not exactly going along with things they don't like, it was a bit of an open question how it would work out, especially at the start.

The Financial Times wasted no time checking in:

New Yorkers are cruising much faster along Manhattan’s bridges and tunnels since their city implemented its long-debated congestion pricing plan early this month, according to newly available traffic data.

Morning rush-hour speed from New Jersey through the Holland Tunnel, a main route under the Hudson River into Manhattan, has almost doubled to 28mph compared with a year earlier. Evening speed over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn has increased from 13mph to 23mph.

If these trends hold, motorists willing to pay the $4.50-$14.40 toll to enter the congestion zone in the centre of the US’s busiest city will save thousands of hours per year they currently waste crawling through smoggy tunnels or over clogged bridges.

An expert quoted by the FT said he was "startled" by the immediate impact, but cautioned that only time will tell.

It was a long time coming. First proposed in 2007 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, two-thirds of city residents were in favor but it failed in the state legislature — twice.

This iteration was about to take effect last June, when Gov. Kathy Hochul suspended it "indefinitely."

Only in New York.

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