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 Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 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. iPhone 17 Pro's alleged design via Front Page Tech Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive a New Perk

Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month. In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Seeds iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 Release Candidate With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music and More

Monday March 24, 2025 10:07 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the fourth betas. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. With iOS 18.4, Apple is adding the Priority Notifications...
airpods max 2024 colors

Don't Buy Into Apple's Hype About AirPods Max Gaining Lossless Audio

Monday March 24, 2025 4:24 pm PDT by
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4. For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec), which...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iOS 18

Top 5 New Features Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday March 21, 2025 3:26 pm PDT by
We're not getting new Siri Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4 as expected, but the upcoming update does have quite a few new additions that will be worth upgrading for. We've rounded up the five best features to look forward to, and if you're not running the beta, you can expect to get access to these in early April. Priority Notifications If you have an iPhone or iPad that supports...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent Search

Foldable iPhone Expected to Launch Next Year, Costing Around $2,000

Monday March 24, 2025 3:43 am PDT by
Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone next year with a ~$2,000 premium price tag attached, expects well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Gurman's comments on Apple's launch plans for its first foldable device appeared in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter. Earlier this month, the reporter said Apple's foldable iPhone could be arriving "as early as 2026,"...
ios 19 messages app

Here's What Apple's iOS 19 Messages App Might Look Like

Tuesday March 25, 2025 11:52 am PDT by
Leaker Jon Prosser today shared a mockup of what he says the Messages app will look like in iOS 19, demoing an interface with rounded, translucent bubble-shaped navigation buttons at the top and softer, rounder corners for the keyboard and word suggestions. Jon Prosser's Messages app mockup The return button, a button for going back to the Messages list, and the FaceTime button have a deeper...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
55 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
55 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
55 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
55 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
55 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
55 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)