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What could happen if there is no TikTok deal by Trump's Sept. 15 deadline

President Trump's deadline for a TikTok deal is one week from today, as certainty continues to drain from the voices of sources close to the process. The big question now is what happens if no deal is struck.

Between the lines: One possibility is that Trump won't follow through on his threat. This could mean dropping the entire thing altogether, or perhaps saying the parties are close to an agreement but just need a bit more time. Maybe an extra 50 days or so, just to get Trump past Nov. 3.


  • This might depend on who gets into Trump's ear last. For example, former Trump campaign adviser David Urban has been working the White House on TikTok's behalf. Maybe he can sneak by Peter Navarro at 11:59 pm.

The more likely possibility is that Trump follows through, believing the (still questionable) national security rationale and that anti-China tech is a winning political message.

  • It's still unlikely TikTok would go offline next Wednesday, particularly given that it's already fighting Trump's executive order in court. Instead, expect this to become a protracted legal battle, reminiscent of the recording industry vs. Napster.
  • From an executive perspective, the White House would initially use the FTC, although could also leverage Treasury to pressure financial institutions doing business with TikTok. It also may ask Apple and Google to remove TikTok from app stores, although it unlikely to request any sort of forced removal from devices.
  • TikTok did immediately shut down India operations after a government ban, but the U.S.-China conflict is much different than the India-China conflict, which has included recent military skirmishes at the border. As one source explained it to me: To publicly support TikTok in India was to be viewed as unpatriotic, among both politicians and users.

The bottom line: If this doesn't soon get decided in a boardroom, it's going to get decided in a courtroom.

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Canada's military joining firefighting efforts as dozens of wildfires rip through west

The Canadian Armed Forces are being called in to help combat dozens of wildfires in western Canada that have sparked evacuation orders and caused the deaths of at least two people, per CTV News.

What's happening: 172 wildfires are burning across British Columbia following the Pacific Northwest's record heat wave, per the BC Wildfire Service.

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Russians hacked federal prosecutors, Justice Department says

The Russian hackers behind the massive SolarWinds cyber-espionage campaign broke into the email accounts of some of the most prominent federal prosecutors' offices around the country last year, the Justice Department announced.

State of play: DOJsaid 80% of Microsoft email accounts used by employees in the four U.S. attorney offices in New York were breached.

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Affirmative action on college campuses is endangered

Data: National Center for Education Statistics; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios

Affirmative action, which for 60 years has increased the number of students of color at American universities, is on the chopping block. A case accusing Harvard of discriminating against Asian applicants has made it to the Supreme Court, and the court could elect to get rid of the 60-year-old policy.

Why it matters: While that's an unlikely outcome, it could push colleges to come up with better ways of promoting diversity on campus rather than just looking at race, says Mitchell Chang, an education professor at UCLA.

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