The campaign is actively engaging across all platforms,” an adviser to Trump’s campaign tells Politico
Former President Donald Trump has joined the social media platform TikTok and posted his first video late Saturday night. The video features the Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO, Dana White, introducing Trump on the platform.
This move is notable because, as president, Trump sought to ban TikTok by executive order, citing concerns over the app’s Chinese parent company. Trump had previously labeled the app a national security threat in March 2024 but later changed his stance on supporting a ban.
The 13-second video was filmed while Trump was attending a UFC event on Saturday evening in Newark, New Jersey. In the video, Trump expresses that it is an “honor” to have joined the app, with a Kid Rock song playing in the background.
An adviser to Trump’s campaign stated to Politico, “The campaign is playing on all fields. Being able to do outreach on multiple platforms and outlets is important, and this is just one of many ways we’re going to reach out to voters. TikTok skews towards a younger audience.”
Last week, Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also joined the app. He posted videos from the Manhattan courthouse where Trump was convicted on Thursday on all 34 counts for falsifying business records.
In April 2024, President Joe Biden enacted legislation that will prohibit the social media app TikTok in the US. The law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app within 270 days due to concerns about national security risks. TikTok has filed a lawsuit to prevent the ban, and oral arguments in the case are scheduled for September. Despite the legislation, Biden’s campaign has continued to use the app.