US Politics
White House launches TikTok account weeks ahead of Trump’s extended deadline to ban app
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The White House has launched a TikTok account weeks ahead of President Donald Trump’s extended deadline to ban the app.
Congress passed a bill last year, which former President Joe Biden subsequently signed into law, that gave TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, nine months to sell TikTok to a U.S.-approved company or face a nationwide ban.
Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline for TikTok to sell or be banned since taking office with the most recent delay set to end on September 17.
It remains unclear if Trump will extend the deadline again, if a deal with TikTok is not reached within a few weeks, but the fact the White House has joined the app could lessen confidence that Trump will enforce the ban.
The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.
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The White House shared a series of videos Tuesday to kick off its new account.
In its first post, the White House shared a compilation video of Trump and wrote, “America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?”
A second video showed beauty shots of the exterior of the White House and was captioned, “We’re so back.”
The White House also posted a video of Trump zingers, including when he said, “I was the hunted, and now I’m the hunter.”
Trump has his own TikTok account, which was launched during his 2024 presidential campaign, and has amassed more than 15 million followers.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, per Reuters, “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.”
In June, Leavitt said Trump delayed the enforcement of the TikTok ban again “so we can get this deal done.”
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“It’s wildly popular. He also wants to protect Americans’ data and privacy concerns on this app. And he believes we can do both at the same time,” Leavitt told reporters.
The Information, a tech news site, reported in July TikTok was developing a new version of its app for American users that would go live on U.S. app stores on September 5, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Trump’s approach toward TikTok has dramatically shifted in his second term.
During his first presidency, Trump signed an executive order banning TikTok, citing a threat to U.S. national security — an argument that lawmakers made while the TikTok ban was moving through Capitol Hill. Trump’s ban was blocked by the courts.
