The White House has officially joined TikTok, despite US President Donald Trump previously calling for “aggressive action” against the social media platform.
He even signed an executive order in 2020, during his first term in the Oval Office, suggesting the Chinese-owned app was a threat to national security.
But Trump’s attitude changed around the time of the 2024 Presidential election, when he and former Vice President Kamala Harris both campaigned extensively on the platform.
And since his election victory, he’s repeatedly extended the deadline of a TikTok sale-or-ban law passed under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
Now, with the current deadline less than a month away on September 17, he’s all over the new White House TikTok page.
“America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” read the caption on the account’s first post.
It was a montage of Trump with a voice-over of him saying, “Every day, I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.”
Since then the account has shared several videos and amassed about 200,000 followers despite Trump’s previous claims that TikTok could “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States”.
Here’s everything you need to know about The White House joining TikTok.
Why did the White House join TikTok?
According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the account was established to better communicate with the American people.
“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 on Wednesday (local time).
“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 was referencing Trump’s personal TikTok account under the handle @realdonaldtrump, which he posted to regularly during the 2024 Presidential race.
The account has more than 15 million followers, however nothing new has been posted since November 6, 2024.
Reuters Institute research has shown that social media and video networks have become the main source of news in the US, with more than half of people getting their news from platforms like Facebook, X and YouTube.
About half of adult TikTok users also say they get their news from the app.
What is the White House TikTok username?
The White House TikTok account posts under the handle @whitehouse and at the time of writing the account bio reads “Welcome to the Golden Age of America”.
Is TikTok a security risk?
US authorities have previously voiced concerns over TikTok due to possible stolen US data and a potentially manipulative algorithm.
Back in 2020, Trump claimed the app posed a secrutiy risk to the US and attempted to ban it via an executive order.
“[T]he spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” the order read.
“At this time, action must be taken to address the threat posed by one mobile application in particular, TikTok.”
President Joe Biden continued down the path to banning the app when he took office and in 2024, Congress overwhelmingly voted to ban the app.
A law was passed to ban TikTok in the US unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, sold the app before a set deadline.
That deadline was supposed to be January 19, 2020, and TikTok voluntarily suspended its services in the US one day before the dealine – only for President Trump to sign an executive order delaying enforcement of the ban on January 20, his first day in office.
He signed a second executive order to delay the ban in April, followed by a third in June.
“As he has said many times, President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” Leavitt told reporters at the time of the third extension.
“This extension will last 90 days, which the Administration will spend working to ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.”
The deadline is currently set for September 17.
Who is actually running the White House TikTok?
The White House TikTok is likely being run by the Office of Digital Strategy, which typically manages the President’s and the White House’s social media.
According to the White House website, the department “uses digital platforms to amplify the President’s message and engage with citizens around the country online”.
Who is the main audience for the White House’s TikTok account?
There were an estimated 136 million active TikTok users in the US in January 2025, many of whom will be targeted by the new White House account.
More than 60 per cent of US teens aged 13 to 17 say they use the app, including about 57 per cent who use it daily according to the Pew Research Centre.
Almost 60 per cent of US adults under 30 also use the app, as do 40 per cent of those aged 30 to 49, 26 per cent of those aged 50 to 64, and 10 per cent of those aged 65 or older.