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

The move underscores the platform’s political value with a congressionally mandated sale‑or‑ban deadline approaching.

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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 @whitehouse TikTok account went live Tuesday, debuting a 27‑second montage of President Donald Trump with the caption, “America we are BACK! What’s up TikTok?” and the line, “I am your voice.”
  • Federal law requires ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban, and the app briefly went dark in January before enforcement was delayed.
  • Trump has pushed the deadline back three times, most recently in June, setting Sept. 17 as the next cutoff while keeping the app available to roughly 170 million U.S. users.
  • Talks over a U.S. buyer continue with no finalized deal, and U.S. officials have said any sale would require approval from Chinese authorities.
  • Citing national security risks tied to Chinese ownership, lawmakers and intelligence officials back the divest‑or‑ban law, while the White House says it is using TikTok to reach broad audiences.