White House launches TikTok account

The White House on Tuesday launched its official TikTok account, tapping into the short-video app’s vast user base of more than 170 million in the United States to effectively communicate President Donald Trump’s messages. The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Tuesday evening with an inaugural video featuring footage of Trump declaring: “I am your voice.” The clip was captioned, “America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” and had drawn about 4,500 followers within an hour of posting. The debut came against the backdrop of uncertainty over TikTok’s future in the US. A federal law mandating the app’s sale or a nationwide ban on national security grounds had been scheduled to take effect on January 20, the day before Trump’s inauguration. However, the Republican president, who leaned heavily on social media during his 2024 campaign and has often expressed fondness for TikTok, paused the ban. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, remains under scrutiny. In April, the company confirmed it had been in talks with the US government to seek a resolution and noted that any agreement “will be subject to approval under Chinese law,” the Guardian reported. In June, Trump extended the deadline for the third time, granting the video-sharing platform an additional 90 days to secure a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the country. The extension is set to expire in mid-September.