White House launches TikTok account, Trump declares "I am your voice"

The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, taking advantage of the short video app's more than 170 million U.S. users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump.

The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Tuesday evening just before 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with an initial video showing footage of Trump declaring, "I am your voice."

With just two video posts – the second a montage of the actual White House – by 9:30 p.m., the Trump video had over 44,000 likes, more than 5,500 comments, and about 2,800 saves.

"America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?" the video caption read.

@whitehouse

America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?

♬ original sound - The White House

Trump has a soft spot for the popular app, crediting it with helping him gain support among young voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election.

Lawmakers in Washington worry, however, that its U.S. user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for U.S. investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance.

Past intelligence assessments have said the app's owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans.

The TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year, @realdonaldtrump, has more than 15 million followers. The Republican president also relies heavily on his Truth Social account to deliver his message and posts occasionally on his X account.

"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," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.