By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House launched an official TikTok account on Tuesday, taking advantage of its more than 150 million U.S. users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump.
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.
Past intelligence assessments have said the short video app’s owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans.
“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 as the site went live.
“President Trump’s message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we’re excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before,” she said.
The account, @whitehouse, began operation on Tuesday evening, with the aim of communicating the president’s policies, a White House official said.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Leslie Adler, Rod Nickel)
