The White House just created a ‘TikTok’ account
TikTok will be banned in the US in less than a month, but the White House has already created its first account on the social network.
The new account takes the handle @whitehouse and it posted for the first time on August 19.
The account began posting a video of US President Donald Trump saying “I am your voice” with the caption “America, we’re back! What’s new, TikTok?”
At the time of posting, the account had 85,000 followers and had posted two more videos with edited footage of Trump.
The ban only shut down TikTok in the US for one day, and its impact has been delayed three times:
- In January, when Trump took office and signed an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days;
- In April, when Trump’s tough tariffs on China derailed a potential deal;
- In June, when he said he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping was open to a deal if a buyer emerged.
TikTok owners “ByteDance” should to sell their business to the US in order to continue operating in the country. Rumors of a sale have been circulating all year, but we haven’t heard anything concrete yet.
Trump said in June that he had found a group of “very wealthy people” to buy the US portion of TikTok, but nothing has been publicly confirmed on whether a deal was reached.
The new account created by the White House could be seen as a hint that Trump intends to continue using the service for the foreseeable future, even if it is extended again.
Trump’s personal account on TikTok has 15 million followers, although it was used during the 2024 presidential election campaign.
Commenting on the new account, according to Reuters, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “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.”
“and we’re excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before.” – she adds.
