Former President Donald Trump has joined TikTok, a fast-growing social media site with links to China that Trump has openly praised despite his opposition to it while president.
In his debut post on the social network, which is populated by young prospective voters, Trump shared a video from an Ultimate Fighting Championship battle in Newark, New Jersey, earlier that evening. The video features UFC CEO Dana White.
Trump addressed fans personally, calling it a “honor” to be included on the app. His remark was followed by a video of ecstatic UFC fans.
“The president is now on TikTok,” White said at the beginning of the video.
Trump’s verified account presently has just one post. His super PAC, MAGA Inc., had already joined the platform in May.
Taylor Budowich, the PAC’s CEO, said on X at the time, “MAGA INC will not give any platform to Joe Biden and the Democrats who are attempting to destroy our country.” We will guarantee that President Trump’s America First agenda reaches every corner of the internet and every precinct in our nation.
The decision to join TikTok highlights Trump’s sudden reversal on the network, which is popular among 170 million people in the US. TikTok remains smaller than rivals such as Instagram and Facebook, but it is growing quicker and has a younger audience.
During his presidency, Trump raised worries about TikTok’s ties to China as part of his larger anti-China campaign. TikTok and its Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, became the focal point of US-China tensions, as Trump unsuccessfully sought to ban the app from the United States by executive order.
President Joe Biden and the majority of senators have shared Trump’s worry. Biden approved legislation that would require TikTok to sell to another firm or risk a total ban. But Trump now says he opposes a statewide TikTok ban, claiming that such a restriction would alienate young Americans while benefiting Meta.
Defenders of the program, including TikTok itself, have said that any supposed national security dangers associated with the software are completely hypothetical, and there is no publicly available information indicating that the Chinese government accessed the personal data of TikTok’s US users.
On Saturday, Trump’s TikTok debut, coming only days after his New York criminal conviction, seemed to reaffirm his change. As of Sunday morning, his TikTok account had over 650,000 followers, and his premiere video had over 6 million views.
The Biden campaign, for its part, maintains a TikTok presence and has continued to publish on the site despite the fact that the Biden administration has advocated for a countrywide ban.
TikTok has launched a court challenge to the statute signed by Vice President Biden in April, which would prohibit the app from being used till a new owner is found. The oral arguments in the case are planned for September.