Trump has considered TikTok an important tool to gain support, especially from young voters.
The White House has launched an official TikTok account, posting its first post on Tuesday with the caption “America, we’re back! What’s up TikTok.” Within an hour, the account had amassed about 4,500 followers, a stark contrast to Donald Trump’s personal account, which has over 110 million followers. However, Trump has not posted since November 5, 2024, the day of the presidential election. Trump has seen TikTok as an important tool to garner support, especially from young voters.
His 2024 campaign relied heavily on social media, and according to the Republican president, TikTok helped. White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said the administration is committed to communicating Trump’s successes across as many platforms as possible. However, the app remains a contentious political issue. A federal law requiring TikTok to be sold or banned on national security grounds was supposed to take effect before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The president has put that decision on hold, extending the deadline several times to allow for a non-Chinese buyer to be found. The current deadline is mid-September.
The US Congress previously voted overwhelmingly to ban the app, calling it a national security threat. The decision faced legal challenges but was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.
Ironically, Trump, who was initially a strong supporter of the ban, changed his mind after joining TikTok himself and amassing millions of followers. He even hosted the platform’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, at Mar-a-Lago and invited him to his inauguration. Trump is now promising to protect TikTok, a platform with an estimated 170 million users in the US and almost 2 billion globally. The move clearly shows that the influence of social networks in politics is greater than ever, while balancing national security and communicating with voters remains one of the main challenges of the new administration.