President Donald Trump made a return to popular video-sharing platform TikTok by uploading three montages posted to a new official @whitehouse account Tuesday night. “America we are BACK,” the first post was captioned. Trump said “I am your voice” as the video played.
This isn’t Trump’s first time on TikTok. He, along with his 2024 election rivals—former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris—had previously joined the app to reach its 170 million U.S. users. Trump last posted to his 15 million-plus followers from his former account @realdonaldtrump on Election Day.
READ: TikTok gets 90-day extension on US sale-or-ban deadline (June 18, 2025)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to ABC News that TikTok will be a powerful tool for the president. “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 said.
“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,” Leavitt added. The White House account reached 140,000 followers by Wednesday afternoon, still catching up to Trump’s more than 10 million Truth Social followers and more than 108 million followers on his less frequently used X account.
This has come in spite of the controversy and uncertainty surrounding the massively-popular social media platform. TikTok — which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance — has faced scrutiny over security concerns since Trump’s first term.
Earlier this year, the supreme court upheld a law that mandated a ban of the app unless ByteDance divested from its U.S. operations. The app temporarily went dark on Jan 19. Trump then signed an executive order that gave TikTok 75 additional days to find a buyer. This deadline was additionally extended two more times.
Several companies and people were in the running to buy TikTok. In June, Trump announced potential plans for a sale to a “group of very wealthy people.” Reports later revealed that private equity firm Blackstone had withdrawn from a deal to invest in TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of a consortium. The company had originally planned to acquire a minority stake in a deal orchestrated by Trump.
The consortium, which is led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic —the current investors in ByteDance — had emerged as the frontrunner to take over TikTok’s U.S business, in a deal under which U.S. investors would own 80% of TikTok, while ByteDance would retain a minority stake. According to Reuters, the consortium also includes KKR, as well as new investors such as Andreessen Horowitz. Oracle might also acquire a stake.