Dayo Ade Olusola|M10news|US News|20 August 2025
The White House has launched an official TikTok account, marking a major shift in communication strategy just weeks before another deadline approaches for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a ban in the United States.
Under a law passed in 2024, TikTok was required to cease operations by 19 January this year unless ByteDance had either sold off its U.S. assets or shown significant progress toward doing so.
@whitehouse America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?
♬ original sound – The White House
President Donald Trump, who began his second term a day later, chose not to enforce the immediate shutdown and instead granted a series of extensions.
The account, under the handle @WhiteHouse, attracted more than 100,000 followers within hours of going live. Its bio reads: “Welcome to the Golden Age of America.”
The first video posted features a speech from President Trump declaring, “Every day, I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.”
That launch video carried the caption: “America, we are BACK! What’s u, TikTok?” — signalling the administration’s plan to use the platform to push its political message to younger audiences.
A second video features shots of the White House with the caption “We’re so back”, while a third post is a light-hearted montage of Trump himself, including clips of him dancing, sitting in a Tesla on the South Lawn and addressing supporters at rallies.
@whitehouse We’re so back
♬ original sound – The White House
In one of those clips, Trump references a 2022 viral moment involving his predecessor, Joe Biden, at the White House Easter Egg Roll: “Remember when the bunny took Joe Biden down? It’s not taking Trump down.”
The White House also announced its arrival on TikTok via X, posting the account link alongside three eye emojis.
Trump already commands a huge following on social media. His personal TikTok account, @realdonaldtrump, gained over 15 million followers during his 2024 campaign, while he continues to use Truth Social as his primary platform and occasionally posts on X.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the move to TikTok was part of a deliberate push to broaden communication channels.
“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,” she told Reuters.
@whitehouse ‘I was the hunted, and now I’m the hunter.’
♬ original sound – The White House
She added: “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.”
The launch comes nearly four years after Trump issued his first executive order targeting TikTok, arguing that apps developed by Chinese companies posed a risk to national security, foreign policy and the U.S. economy.
At the time, the 2020 order stated: “The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in [China] continues to threaten national security… The United States must take aggressive action against the owners of TikTok to protect our national security.”
Despite those warnings, Trump has since extended TikTok’s deadline several times, most recently in June when he signed an order giving the company another 90 days to negotiate a sale of its U.S. assets to American owners.
https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1957926495923347724
TikTok responded with a statement thanking the administration: “We are grateful for President Trump’s leadership and support in ensuring that TikTok continues to be available for more than 170 million American users and 7.5 million U.S. businesses that rely on the platform as we continue to work with Vice President Vance’s Office.”
The White House’s arrival on TikTok suggests Trump is willing to embrace the app for political purposes even as his administration continues to insist that ByteDance divest.
For now, Washington remains caught between security concerns and the platform’s unrivalled influence on younger voters.
