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

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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
64 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)