A 3D-printed miniature mannequin Donald Trump and TikTok emblem are seen on this illustration taken January 15, 2025. File | Photo Credit: Reuters
Mr. Trump has a smooth spot for the favored app, crediting it with serving to him acquire help amongst younger voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris within the November 2024 presidential election.
Lawmakers in Washington fear, nonetheless, that its U.S. consumer knowledge might fall into the fingers of China’s authorities. Mr. Trump has been engaged on a deal for U.S. traders to purchase the app from TikTok’s Chinese father or mother, ByteDance.
Past intelligence assessments have stated the app’s homeowners are beholden to the Chinese authorities and that it could possibly be used to affect Americans.
The new account, @whitehouse, went dwell on Tuesday (August 19, 2025) night with an preliminary video displaying footage of Mr. Trump as he declares: “I am your voice.”
“America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” the caption learn.
The TikTok account Mr. Trump used for his presidential marketing campaign final yr, @realdonaldtrump, has greater than 15 million followers. The Republican President additionally depends closely on his Truth Social account to ship his message and posts sometimes 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 stated.
“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 stated.
A 2024 legislation required TikTok to cease working by January 19 of this yr except ByteDance had accomplished divesting the app’s U.S. belongings or demonstrated vital progress towards a sale.
Mr. Trump opted to not implement the legislation after he started his second time period as President on January 20. He first prolonged the deadline to early April, then to June 19 after which once more to September 17.
Extensions to the deadline have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue the Trump administration is flouting the legislation and ignoring nationwide safety considerations associated to Chinese management over TikTok.
Published – August 20, 2025 11:38 am IST
