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7h ago

White House Joins TikTok as Sept. 17 Divest‑or‑Ban Deadline Nears

The launch underscores a messaging push as an unresolved divest‑or‑ban mandate nears, with any sale contingent on Beijing’s approval.

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US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 28, 2025. Zelensky and Trump openly clashed in the White House on February 28 at a meeting where they were due to sign a deal on sharing Ukraine's mineral riches and discuss a peace deal with Russia. "You're not acting at all thankful. It's not a nice thing," Trump said. "It's going to be very hard to do business like this," he added. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The official @whitehouse account went live Tuesday with a 27‑second first post captioned “America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” featuring President Trump saying, “I am your voice.”
  • President Trump has delayed enforcement three times, most recently in June, extending the sell‑or‑ban deadline to Sept. 17 after the app briefly went dark in January.
  • Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said a prospective deal requires Chinese approval and warned that TikTok would “go dark” in the U.S. if Beijing rejects it.
  • Congress passed the bipartisan law in 2024 and the Supreme Court upheld it, citing national security concerns that Chinese law could enable access to U.S. user data or content influence, claims TikTok disputes.
  • TikTok counts roughly 170 million U.S. users, and the White House says the account will be used to share the president’s messages and policy priorities with that audience.