According to a recent report, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned President Donald Trump at a White House dinner last October about the dangers that Chinese tech firms pose to the American economy.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed the growing threat that Chinese tech firms presented to U.S. companies with President Trump last October at a White House dinner. The Facebook CEO reportedly argued that President Trump should focus on these foreign tech firms rather than attempting to regulate Facebook.

Around this same time, Zuckerberg also warned U.S. officials and lawmakers that Chinese tech firms pose a risk to American values and the country’s technological dominance. Zuckerberg reportedly noted that ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, does not have the same commitment to free expression that Facebook allegedly does.

In October, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) asked the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, to investigate the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to determine if it poses “national security risks.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) also called on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the acquisition of social media app Musical.ly by TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co. over claims that TikTok is used by the Chinese government to censor certain political content.

Rubio stated in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that Chinese-owned apps “are increasingly being used to censor content and silence open discussion on topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Government and Communist Party.” The Treasury secretary heads the CFIUS, which reviews mergers such as that of Musical.ly and TikTok to ensure that they do not damage national security.

TikTok recently faced a ban from operating in the United States under a recent executive order from the Trump administration, the company has since filed a lawsuit against the White House. The lawsuit reportedly alleges that President Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional as it failed to give the company time to respond, it further alleges that the administration’s justification of national security concerns is baseless. “It’s based on pure speculation and conjecture,” NPR’s source said. “The order has no findings of fact, just reiterates rhetoric about China that has been kicking around.”

The White House did not comment on the possible litigation but White House spokesman Judd Deere defended the executive order, stating: “The Administration is committed to protecting the American people from all cyber-related threats to critical infrastructure, public health and safety, and our economic and national security.”

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro told CNBC on Monday that Zuckerberg has “zero influence” when it comes to TikTok and that the Wall Street Journal report which implies that Zuckerberg may have influenced the ban of the app has “zero credibility.”

A Facebook spokesperson told CNBC on Monday: “Mark has never advocated for a ban on TikTok. He has repeatedly said publicly that the biggest competitors to U.S. tech companies are Chinese companies, with values that don’t align with democratic ideals like free speech. It’s ludicrous to suggest that long-standing national security concerns — raised by policymakers on both sides of the aisle — have been shaped by Mark’s statements alone.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com