The White House lands on TikTok and fills up with followers. Trump: 'I am your voice'

The White House is landing on TikTok and gaining a lot of followers. In the first hour alone it has gained 4,500 and is, according to the administration, just the beginning. The account debuts with a short video in which Donald Trump says: 'I am your voice'. The opening of the account comes as the deadline approaches for the popular app to sell its US division or be banned in the US.

Opposed to the app during his first term in office, Trump has now become an advocate of it, thanks to the decisive role played by the platform in his electoral victory. Since entering the White House, the president has been working to 'save' the app, as clamoured for by hundreds of millions of Americans who use it for work. Despite rumours, no concrete offer has so far emerged for the platform. Further complicating the rescue is the need for a green light from Beijing for the sale. An approval that is not easy to obtain even though relations with Washington have recently relaxed with the trade truce signed.

On 20 January, Trump had given until April to find a buyer for TikTok, then postponed the deadline to June and then again to 17 September. Postponements that cost him a lot of criticism from Congress: the president was in fact accused of ignoring the law and national security concerns related to ByteDance, the Chinese company that controls it. "The administration is committed to communicating Trump's historic achievements to the greatest number of viewers and on the greatest number of platforms. The president's message dominated on TikTok during his campaign, and," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, "we are excited to build on these successes.

With the new account, the administration is targeting an audience of more than 170 million Americans, thus beginning to weave its web ahead of the mid-term elections in 2026.