Trump Signs Executive Order to Ban US Transactions With WeChat Pay and 7 Other Chinese Apps

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps, including WeChat Pay and AliPay (via Reuters).

alipay wechat pay
The order prohibits all U.S. transactions with the companies behind the apps, the full list of which includes Alipay, CamScanner, QQ Wallet, SHAREit, Tencent QQ, VMate, WeChat Pay, and WPS Office.

The order tasks the Commerce Department with defining which transactions will be banned under the directive within 45 days, but a U.S. official told Reuters that the Commerce Department plans to act before January 20, when Trump leaves office.

"By accessing personal electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers, Chinese connected software applications can access and capture vast swaths of information from users, including sensitive personally identifiable information and private information," the executive order states.

Such data collection "would permit China to track the locations of federal employees and contractors, and build dossiers of personal information," the document adds.

The named apps are extremely popular with Chinese mobile device users, and if the order was successful, the bans would be a significant blow to Chinese Americans who use apps like WeChat to communicate.

The new orders are in addition to two earlier ones signed by Trump in August that attempted to ban transactions with WeChat and TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. The first order was blocked by a judge in September and then again in October, while a preliminary injunction granted by another judge in December prevented the TikTok ban from going ahead.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
Global Close Your Rings Day Pin

Apple Stores Giving Away a Limited-Edition Pin For Free Today

Thursday April 24, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last. Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski The enamel pin's design is inspired by the Global Close Your Rings Day award in the Activity app, which Apple Watch users can receive by closing all three Activity rings today. The limited-edition pin is the physical...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Apple Logo Spotlight Blue

White House Hits Back at Apple's Massive EU Fine

Thursday April 24, 2025 5:57 am PDT by
Apple's $570 million fine from the EU has triggered a sharp rebuke from the White House, which called the fine a form of economic extortion, Reuters reports. The fine was announced on Wednesday by the European Commission, following a formal investigation into Apple's compliance with the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA), a landmark piece of legislation aimed at curbing the market dominance of ...
ipad air magic keyboard feature

iPadOS 19 Rumored to Show Mac-Like Menu Bar When Connected to Magic Keyboard

Thursday April 24, 2025 12:09 pm PDT by
When an iPad running iPadOS 19 is connected to a Magic Keyboard, a macOS-like menu bar will appear on the screen, according to the leaker Majin Bu. This change would further blur the lines between the iPad and the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously claimed that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS," with unspecified improvements to productivity, multitasking, and app window management,...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
56 months ago

China are dangerous, they want to rule the world and they will stop at nothing, we still don't know if the whole CCP-Virus was man-made, there is substantial evidence to suggest that it was, but it's just hearsay until you get concrete evidence.
Where is this evidence?

It's ridiculous to just throw out stories and attach the word "evidence" with nothing to back that up.

I could say "there was substantial evidence that scientists from USA setup a lab in Wuhan to engineer this virus so that the world would blame China for the virus". It doesn't make it anymore false or true than your assertion unless you provide some link.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GCHASE1995 Avatar
56 months ago

Yeah, but how many of them are the walking dead, and how many of them had their vote flipped, or didn't vote in the first place?

Unless the truth comes out with regards to this whole election mess, I can see years of unrest - it needs to be resolved one way or the other.

Do you think Biden would be interested in investigating all the evidence if he gets in?
Where can I buy your tinfoil hat? Plus trump tried to commit voter fraud twice ?
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vicviper789 Avatar
56 months ago
What evidence do you have before suggesting spreading fake news

I wouldn't worry about offending anybody , the problem is that when you have a debate, there will always be someone that will be offended - the real skill in life is to not take offence by other peoples points of view - the old adage of "sticks and stones...."....a good healthy debate is guaranteed to "offend" someone down the line.

In all honesty, the way China are behaving, especially over the whole COVID-19 situation is disgraceful, the more that is done round the world to curb their influence, and power the better - the problem you have at the moment is there are all these entities, BLM, ANTIFA, CCP, the EU etc that all have one goal in the world, to be the rulers - and they will stop at nothing.

China are dangerous, they want to rule the world and they will stop at nothing, we still don't know if the whole CCP-Virus was man-made, there is substantial evidence to suggest that it was, but it's just hearsay until you get concrete evidence.

In my personal view, the world should be focused on China, they should be holding them to account, and the less finances that head in their direction, at the moment....the better.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
56 months ago
why does the transition from one president to the next take so long in the US? It gives them way too much time to be like SCREW YOU before leaving the office.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
56 months ago

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/nobel-winning-scientist-claims-covid-19-virus-was-man-made-in-wuhan-lab-11587303649821.html

https://londonlovesbusiness.com/scientist-says-covid-19-is-man-made-and-was-released-from-wuhan-lab/

And what happened to the scientist that wanted to tell the world about the virus that escaped, and disappeared....Shi Zhengli is her name - search for he.
First link says
"Just in case you don't know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don't believe him,"

Did some googling, turns out, it's true. He's gone off to the deep end:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2012/05/27/nobel-laureate-joins-anti-vaccination-crowd-at-autism-one/?sh=33d13c2c5c53
"Montagnier is promoting wild theories with little scientific basis, and now he is taking advantage of vulnerable parents (see his appeal here) to push a therapy of long-term antibiotic treatment for autistic children."
"Montagnier hasn't been able to publish this in a proper journal, for a very good reason: it's nonsense. He claims that quantum field theory - an area of physics in which he has no qualifications - explains how electromagnetic waves emanating from DNA can explain not only autism, but also Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, and rheumatoid arthritis"

I can't find any info of the doctor in the second link.

I'm going to file this under "BS" until someone more credible says otherwise.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xnsys Avatar
56 months ago
I wouldn't worry about offending anybody , the problem is that when you have a debate, there will always be someone that will be offended - the real skill in life is to not take offence by other peoples points of view - the old adage of "sticks and stones...."....a good healthy debate is guaranteed to "offend" someone down the line.

In all honesty, the way China are behaving, especially over the whole COVID-19 situation is disgraceful, the more that is done round the world to curb their influence, and power the better - the problem you have at the moment is there are all these entities, BLM, ANTIFA, CCP, the EU etc that all have one goal in the world, to be the rulers - and they will stop at nothing.

China are dangerous, they want to rule the world and they will stop at nothing, we still don't know if the whole CCP-Virus was man-made, there is substantial evidence to suggest that it was, but it's just hearsay until you get concrete evidence.

In my personal view, the world should be focused on China, they should be holding them to account, and the less finances that head in their direction, at the moment....the better.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)