White House Joins TikTok, Signaling Trump Administration Has No Plans to Ban the App

The White House has officially joined TikTok, launching an account that features short, edited video clips of President Donald Trump and his staff portraying them as witty, combative, and in full control of the political narrative.

The debut posts, uploaded Tuesday night, include a sizzle reel of Trump brushing off calls from members of Congress, threatening lawsuits during a press conference, and praising Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for “ripping” into a New York Times reporter.

The move is a striking turn in the long-running saga over TikTok’s future in the United States. Under a law signed by then-President Joe Biden in 2023, TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance was ordered to divest from the app or face a nationwide ban, with a deadline set for September 17, 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law earlier this year, affirming the government’s power to enforce the “divest-or-ban” mandate.

Yet since taking office, Trump has repeatedly delayed the law’s enforcement, issuing executive extensions three times this year. The app has only gone dark once — in January, when it was unavailable for a single day before Trump extended the deadline by 75 days. Another 90-day reprieve followed in April, and a further 60-day extension in June. With the White House now opening its own official TikTok account, analysts say the administration has effectively signaled it has no real intention of banning the app.

The decision highlights a complete reversal from Trump’s first term, when he attempted to ban TikTok outright in 2020, citing national security concerns about Chinese access to American user data.

During his 2024 re-election campaign, however, Trump embraced the platform after realizing its unmatched reach among younger voters. His campaign account, @TeamTrump, quickly became one of the most dominant political voices on TikTok, racking up 2.8 billion views compared to Democratic rival Kamala Harris’s 2.2 billion, according to journalist Kyle Tharp.

GOP strategists credited Trump’s reality-TV instincts for helping him turn campaign moments into viral content.

By launching @WhiteHouse, the administration is doubling down on a platform that federal employees were previously barred from using on government devices. The decision underscores how Trump views TikTok not as a threat but as a potent communications tool capable of shaping public opinion and mobilizing supporters.

Initial reaction to the White House’s posts has been divided. All five videos uploaded by Wednesday morning were flooded with negative comments, many referencing Trump’s past association with Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender. Nonetheless, administration officials defended the move as a bold step forward in political messaging.

“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,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Trump himself has argued that banning TikTok would make little sense while his content continues to draw billions of views on the app.

For lawmakers who pushed hard for a ban, the White House’s embrace of TikTok may prove contentious. Both Republicans and Democrats have voiced concerns that ByteDance’s ties to Beijing still pose risks to U.S. national security. But so far, Trump’s extensions and the administration’s fresh TikTok presence suggest that economic and political considerations are outweighing those warnings.

With less than a month until the September 17 deadline, no deal has yet been reached for a U.S. company to purchase TikTok. The administration has declined to say whether another extension will be granted. But by joining the platform itself, the White House has made one point clear: a full-scale ban on TikTok under Trump is looking increasingly unlikely.