A new official White House TikTok account welcoming followers to the “Golden Age of America” has been flooded by comments and memes from Trump haters and diehard supporters.
Launched on Tuesday night (local time), @whitehouse seeks to tap into the short video app’s 150 million users across the United States to spread the US President’s message.
Its first post, which attracted half a million views in nine hours, has the caption “America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?”. The video shows Donald Trump with steel workers, a police officer and service people, as well as at rallies and official events – including one where he’s wearing his trademark MAGA cap.
In the accompanying audio, he states: “Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.”
Although Trump has previously expressed a fondness for TikTok, which he credits with helping him win the support of younger voters ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, intelligence assessments have said the app’s owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans.
In 2023, the Biden administration banned the app on devices used by federal employees, and a 2024 federal law required TikTok to stop operating at the start of this year unless its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance had divested ownership. However, Trump has extended that deadline several times.
Within two hours of launching, @whitehouse already had more than 20,000 followers and the number quickly snowballed.
Its first video has drawn thousands of comments and memes. While some are zealously “Team Trump”, many others mock the President. A number include photos of the President with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demand the release of the Epstein files.
Some users also question the administration’s double standard on TikTok, which Trump wants to see owned by American investors.
“So if the White House can use TikTok, are service members and PA offices allowed to use TikTok as well? For official purposes?” one asked.
Another posted: “We got an illegal White House TikTok before y’all released the Epstein files.”
A couple of hours after the account’s first post, it shared a second video showing a montage of White House photos.
Alongside the caption “I was the hunted, and now I’m the hunter”, it later posted a clip of classic Trump moments, including dancing to the Village People’s YMCA.
@whitehouse ‘I was the hunted, and now I’m the hunter.’
A White House official said @whitehouse was launched with the aim of communicating the President’s policies.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said as the site went live.
“President Trump’s message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we’re excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before.”
A separate TikTok account, @realdonaldtrump, was used by Trump for his presidential campaign last year and has more than 15 million followers.
In a recent interview with Fox News, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said Trump “really likes TikTok” and viewed it as “a good way to communicate with young people”.
“But let’s face it, you can’t have the Chinese have an app on 100 million American phones, that is just not OK. So, it’s got to move to American ownership, it’s got to move to American technology, American algorithms,” Lutnick said.
“I know the President is positive towards TikTok, if it can move into American hands.”
–with Reuters
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