Expect the unexpected! Well, for now that is the case with the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. He joined TikTok. Yes, the app he tried to get banned in the U.S. citing national security issues. Now he is on the platform and from the looks of things, he is becoming a star very fast. According to a Reuter report Trump has over three million followers, a day after his account was created.
Trump’s decision to join TikTok appears strategic, as he gears up for his next run for the White House. With the presidential election looming, the ex-president looks to tap into the votes of the younger generation that predominantly consists of TikTok users.
Trump posted his first video on the app which was of him watching an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in Newark, New Jersey, with the UFC president Dana White. This was Trump’s debut TikTok video and it already has over 56 million views.
Trump’s foray into TikTok further comes amidst ongoing legal battles over the app’s future in the United States. President Joe Biden recently signed a bill into law that will force the Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance, to sell the app in nine months or get banned in the country.
TikTok has continuously denied claims that it shares user information with the Chinese government, and has taken steps to secure all user data. The social media platform has filed a lawsuit in a federal court challenging the law that it says violates free-speech rights and is unsupported by any evidence of harm from the app’s handling of user data.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to maintain an active social media presence across various platforms. He has over 87 million followers on X and more than seven million followers on his own platform, Truth Social.
The US Presidential election is scheduled for November 5, just a few months from now. Will this TikTok saga affect Trump’s ambition to become the President of the United States of America again? Only time can tell.
