Trump’s White House takes to TikTok as deadline looms to ban platform

The White House has launched an official TikTok account, even as the future of the Chinese-owned social media app in the United States remains uncertain due to legislation passed by the US Congress last year.

The official White House account’s first post on Tuesday was a 27-second video featuring a voiceover from President Donald Trump, saying: “Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the People all across this nation. I am your voice.”

The account’s description read: “Welcome to the Golden Age of America”.

TikTok, which remains owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is popular among young people, and has an estimated 170 million users in the US.

Trump has so far delayed the implementation of a 2024 law that ordered TikTok to either to sell to non-Chinese buyers or be banned in the US, with three 90-day extensions.

The US House of Representatives voted 352 to 65 in favour of the “sell or ban” bill in March 2024, with widespread support from both Republicans and Democrats.

The latest extension delaying the ban is due to expire in early September.

“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” Trump posted on the Truth Social network, which he owns, in April.

Few representatives questioned the bill to ban TikTok at the time it was passed, although then-Democratic representative Barbara Lee asked why only one company was being singled out in an attempt to address problems that relate to social media companies more broadly.

“Rather than target one company in a rushed and secretive process, Congress should pass comprehensive data privacy protections and do a better job of informing the public of the threats these companies may pose to national security,” Lee had posted on the social media platform X.

Although the vast majority of both Democratic and Republican representatives supported the “sell or ban” bill, many members of both parties have used the TikTok platform for campaigning and official communications.

Both Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Trump used the app to campaign in the 2024 Presidential election.

On Tuesday, the US state of Minnesota joined a wave of states suing TikTok, alleging the social media giant preys on young people with addictive algorithms that trap them into becoming compulsive consumers of its short videos.

Minnesota is also among dozens of US states that have sued Meta Platforms for allegedly building features into Instagram and Facebook that addict people. The messaging service Snapchat and the gaming platform Roblox are also facing lawsuits by some other states alleging harm to children.