Donald Trump Joins TikTok, App He Had Tried to Ban as President Citing ‘Credible’ Threat to U.S. National Security
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor Donald Trump gained millions of followers on TikTok in the hours after launching an account on the short-form video app — which, when he occupied the White House, he had threatened with a nationwide ban unless Chinese internet giant ByteDance sold control of TikTok to U.S.-based entities.
Trump’s first TikTok on @realdonaldtrump, posted late Saturday night (June 1), shows the ex-president greeting fans at the UFC 302 fight in Newark, N.J. “The president is now on TikTok,” UFC CEO Dana White says in the video. “It’s my honor,” says Trump, who is running again for U.S.
president in 2024 against President Biden. About 13 hours after Trump’s TikTok account launched, it had attracted more than 2 million followers.
As president, Trump was unsuccessful in attempts to force ByteDance to sell majority control in TikTok to U.S. owners. “There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” Trump said in an executive order issued in August 2020.
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