Former President Donald Trump has made a notable entrance on TikTok, quickly gaining over 5.2 million followers in just four days and generating millions of views on his first video. This success comes despite Trump’s previous efforts to ban the app in the United States due to national security concerns related to its Chinese ownership.
Trump’s sole video on the platform features UFC president Dana White introducing him at a UFC event, with the former president responding that it is his “honor.” The post has received more than 72 million views, millions of likes, and thousands of comments.
The former president’s TikTok following far surpasses that of the Biden-Harris HQ TikTok account, which has only around 357,000 followers. This disparity has raised questions about the effectiveness of the Biden campaign’s social media strategy and its ability to connect with younger voters.
Trump’s campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, defended the decision to join TikTok, stating, “We will leave no front undefended and this represents the continued outreach to a younger audience consuming pro-Trump and anti-Biden content.” This statement underscores the importance the Trump campaign places on reaching and influencing young voters through social media platforms.
However, Trump’s presence on TikTok has also sparked controversy, given his past attempts to ban the app due to its ties to China. In 2020, during his time in the White House, Trump unsuccessfully tried to force TikTok off the top app stores and have its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divest its ownership. These efforts were challenged in court and later dropped by the Biden administration.
When asked about his views on TikTok, Trump acknowledged the app’s potential risks, stating, “If China wants anything from [TikTok], they will give it, so that’s a national security risk [that] goes up.” However, he also expressed concerns about banning the app, as it could lead to increased attention and benefits for rival platforms like Facebook, which he dubbed “an enemy of the people.”
The timing of Trump’s TikTok debut is also significant, as it follows his recent conviction on criminal charges in a New York court. A group of GOP senators has pledged to oppose the Biden administration’s actions, asserting that “the White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways.”
As the 2024 presidential election draws nearer, Trump’s presence on TikTok may prove to be a crucial strategy in reaching younger voters and promoting his campaign message, despite his previous concerns about the app’s security. However, the app’s future in the United States remains uncertain, with the Senate passing a bill to ban it if ByteDance doesn’t sell TikTok within the next year.
Trump’s own social media platform, Truth Social, has been struggling, with its parent company, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), experiencing a 6% share drop after the hush money verdict and reporting a $327.6 million first-quarter loss. This has led some to question whether Trump’s focus on TikTok may be an attempt to compensate for the challenges faced by his own platform.
