The White House has launched a new TikTok account on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump continues to allow the Chinese-owned platform to operate in the United States despite a law mandating its sale. “America, we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” was the caption on the account’s first post, a 27-second video clip.
An hour after the video was posted, the account had about 4,500 followers. In comparison, Trump’s personal TikTok account has 110.1 million followers, though his last post was on Election Day, November 5, 2024. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a China-based internet company.
A federal law requiring TikTok’s sale or a ban on national security grounds was set to take effect on January 20, the day before Trump’s inauguration. However, the Republican, whose 2024 election campaign heavily relied on social media and who has expressed a liking for TikTok, paused the ban. In mid-June, Trump granted another 90-day extension for the app to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the US. This latest extension is scheduled to expire in mid-September.
While Trump had previously supported a ban or divestment, he reversed his stance and pledged to defend the platform—which has nearly two billion global users—after coming to believe it helped him win support from young voters in the November election.
Trump’s official account on X (formerly Twitter) has 108.5 million followers. However, his preferred social media outlet is his own platform, Truth Social, where he has 10.6 million followers. The official White House accounts on X and Instagram have 2.4 million and 9.3 million followers, respectively.
