The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, taking advantage of the short video app's more than 170 million U.S. users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump.
Trump has a soft spot for the popular app, crediting it with helping him gain support among young voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election.
Lawmakers in Washington worry, however, that its U.S. user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for U.S. investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance.
Past intelligence assessments have said the app's owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans.
The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Tuesday evening with an initial video showing footage of Trump as he declares: "I am your voice."
"America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?" the caption read.
The TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year, @realdonaldtrump, has more than 15 million followers. The Republican president also relies heavily on his Truth Social account to deliver his message and posts occasionally on his X account.
"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.
"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," she said.
A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 of this year unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale.
Trump opted not to enforce the law after he began his second term as president on January 20. He first extended the deadline to early April, then to June 19 and then again to September 17.
Extensions to the deadline have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring national security concerns related to Chinese control over TikTok.
Source: Investing.com
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods tha...
China on Thursday accused the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had made "grossly distorted" remarks about a top Chinese trade negotiator, re...
Australia's unemployment rate jumped to 4.5% in September, its highest level since 2021. This figure was worse than expected and indicates that the labor market is starting to weaken. Data from the Au...
U.S. President Donald Trump remains on track to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in late October, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, as both sides looked to ease tensions followi...
US President Donald Trump hit markets with a fresh tariff threat on Friday, continuing his lashout at China over their decision to impose even stricter export licensing requirements on foreign entitie...
The Hang Seng surged 612 points, or 2.4%, to close at 25,859 on Monday, recovering sharply from steep losses in the prior session as all sectors advanced. Investor sentiment was lifted by a strong rise in U.S. futures after President Trump...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday he expects to meet next week with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Malaysia to try to forestall an escalation of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that President Donald Trump said was...
Silver held below $52 per ounce on Monday after losing more than 4% in the previous session when investors locked in profits after a historic rally to record highs. Improving risk sentiment, driven largely by signs of easing US-China trade...
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he favors another interest rate cut at the U.S. central bank's policy meeting later...
The three major US stock indexes fluctuated between small gains and losses on Friday in what could be another volatile session. Consumer staples and...
China on Thursday accused the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had made "grossly...
US stocks rose on Friday (October 17th) as investors reacted positively to President Trump's remarks alleviating concerns about further trade...