Washington DC: The White House has launched its TikTok account, marking a dramatic reversal from President Donald Trump’s initial vow to ban the Chinese-owned platform back in 2020 over national security concerns.
The first post, a 27-second video captioned ‘America, we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?’ was uploaded to the account, which gained about 4,500 followers within the first hour. In comparison, Trump’s personal TikTok account already boasts 15.1 million followers, though his last upload was on November 5, 2024, the day of the presidential election.
Trump, who defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, has credited TikTok with helping him connect with younger voters, a demographic he believes was crucial to his victory. His fondness for the app led him to pause enforcement of a federal law requiring TikTok’s US sale or ban, which was originally set to take effect on January 19, 2025, the day before his inauguration.
HELLO TIKTOK 👋 pic.twitter.com/HY6SSEwAFs
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 20, 2025
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, explained the decision, and noted that, “The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible.”
TikTok, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, has 170 million US users and nearly 2 billion worldwide. In April, ByteDance said it was in talks with the US government to find a solution, stressing that any deal would also require approval under Chinese law.
Trump has repeatedly extended TikTok’s compliance deadline, most recently in mid-June 2025, giving the company another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer. The new deadline is set to expire in mid-September.
The push to ban TikTok began during Trump’s first term in 2020, when he called the platform a threat to national security. The effort quickly gained bipartisan traction, and Congress eventually voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban in 2024. Although the law faced legal challenges, the US Supreme Court upheld it, cementing the requirement for divestment or prohibition.
However, Trump reversed his position after joining TikTok during his campaign, where he quickly amassed nearly 15 million followers. The President also invited TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and later welcomed him at his presidential inauguration.
While Trump has long promoted divestment, his current stance is to defend the platform, insisting it played a vital role in his political success.
On social media, Trump maintains a massive reach across platforms: his X account has 108.5 million followers, while his network, Truth Social, has 10.6 million. Meanwhile, the official White House accounts count 2.4 million followers on X and 9.3 million on Instagram.
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