Trump widens US ban on Chinese apps as his term nears end

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese apps including Alipay and WeChat Pay in an escalation of a trade war he has been waging through most of his term. The order goes into effect in 45 days, at which point Joe Biden will be the president, so its fate is unclear. The order follows two others Trump signed in August banning dealings with the popular video app TikTok as well as the main WeChat messaging app. The fate of those apps in the U.S. is