Think Critically About Trump’s TikTok Tactics

Since its merger with Musical.y in 2017, TikTok has tolerated a turbulent history — one inextricably linked with the similarly turbulent President Donald Trump. 

As the app has infiltrated seemingly every part of the U.S. cultural sphere, so too has Trump muscled his way into every nook and cranny of American life. 

Since his first presidential campaign, it’s felt impossible to look anywhere without bumping into Trump’s far-reaching facade — be it private life, politics or public discourse. 

These juggernauts’ years-long entanglement culminated Jan. 19 when TikTok went dark in response to an impending federal ban. The app was inaccessible to its 170 million American users for 14 hours, The Phoenix reported.

The ban — coincidentally — aligned with Trump’s inauguration, and on his first day in office he signed an executive order extending TikTok’s stay in the U.S. for 75 days, citing a “warm spot” for the app, The Associated Press reported.

If TikTok’s return and ByteDance CEO Shou Chew’s presence on the dais at Trump’s inauguration are any indication, the president’s soft spot has been repaid tenfold.

“Thanks for your patience and support,” TikTok’s return announcement read. “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” 

Of course, tech billionaires pandering to Trump isn’t new — he’s been touting his tycoon posse since he won the election. What’s interesting about TikTok, though — aside from the recent politicization of its very existence in America — is its unprecedented ubiquity, association with current politics and infamously addictive qualities. 

Trump didn’t always use the app to its full rhetorical capacity. But now, having been on the winning side of the app’s seemingly ceaseless discourse, the president has realized its potential as the next investment in our attention economy — one that’s come at a moment when being TikTok’s savior is sure to boost his popularity. 

Trump’s perspective on the app was far more conflicted during his first term. In 2020, the president signed an executive order banning American companies from any “transaction” with ByteDance and its subsidiaries, including TikTok, AP reported.

He quickly followed it with a second executive order calling on ByteDance to divest from its U.S. TikTok operations. ByteDance responded with a lawsuit, alleging the Trump administration violated due process, AP reported. These legal battles never actualized, fully dissolving after the January 2020 inauguration of former President Joe Biden. 

Despite this belligerent history, Trump officially joined the app in June and began posting campaign-related videos a month before former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. 

Over the course of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump’s TikTok saw staggering results, boasting over 15 million followers. His first video — in which he says being on TikTok is his “honor” — is the most engaged with on his page, having amassed over 300,000 comments, 10 million likes and 179 million views. 

During his campaign, Trump’s TikTok became distinct from his other social media accounts. In addition to promoting his usual rhetoric — lamenting high prices, attacking Harris’ immigration policies and capitalizing on Biden’s misunderstood public address — a majority of his posts are evocative of fan edits or hype videos, often displaying Trump with online influencers meant to appeal to a younger voting demographic. 

Both campaigns catered their TikTok to a younger audience — and for good reason. Around 41 million members of Generation Z were eligible to vote in the 2024 election, 8 million more than in the 2022 midterms, according to CIRCLE. 

The demographic proved to be as significant as predicted. Young men — especially young white men — preferred Trump by 14 points, creating a 31-point gap between young male and female voters, according to CIRCLE. Although youth voters favored Harris by 4 points overall, this was nowhere near the 25-point margin Biden got in 2020. 

While this significant shift in Gen Z political ideology can’t be solely attributed to TikTok, it’s hard to look at these numbers without recalling Trump strutting around with the Paul brothers or performing his notorious dance. 

Trump acknowledged the importance of TikTok’s impact on the election when explaining his reasoning for saving the app, saying it “had an impact,” AP reported.

But while Trump’s TikTok virality almost definitely contributed to the president’s sudden change of heart, it may not have been the only reason.

TikTok’s explosive popularity made it a breeding ground for political discourse, with about half of the app’s users under age 30 saying they use it to stay informed about politics and current events, according to Pew Research. 

While this has helped proliferate certain social justice initiatives — such as the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement and information about climate change impacts — it’s also contributed to the spread of harmful political rhetoric and the perpetuation of political echo chambers, according to Harvard Political Review. 

More than this, the app is known for its addictive qualities, as its algorithm cyclically loops users through content specially designed for them, leading many to fall victim to hours of “doomscrolling.” TikTok has also been proven to negatively affect users’ mental health, especially among its largely teen demographic.

Trump is a businessman — he’s centered much of his political identity around his success in the private sector. His goal isn’t simply to win elections and harbor power, it’s to gain capital in the form of attention — capitalistic expansion in the 21st-century frontier. 

Capturing the public’s attention is the contemporary method to simultaneously concentrate power and accumulate wealth — a strategy Trump has excelled at even when he wasn’t in office, and one he’s escalating by fraternizing with TikTok’s CEO. 

As if echo chambers and polarization weren’t enough, TikTok users have reported instances of censorship since the app’s return, according to Reuters, specifically relating to anti-Trump content. While these claims have yet to be proven, they’re undoubtedly concerning, especially given recent changes to Meta’s moderation practices and policies on Facebook and Instagram. 

All this to say — Trump’s partnership with TikTok isn’t just a reaction to his election success, nor is it simply a way to exercise his political power or paint himself as free speech’s saving grace. 

It’s also the newest phase of his attempts to expand his attention capital, colonizing American minds via not just X, Facebook and an endless stream of headlines, but also through the world’s most prolific and addictive online interface — the next conquest in his self-ascribed Manifest Destiny. 

“We have no choice,” Trump said of TikTok. “We have to save it.” 

The president may not think we have a choice — but we do. We can choose to think critically about our media consumption habits and the motivations behind these whiplash-inducing political choices.

We can realize the impact of our attention. We can choose what we pay attention to. 

Trump has already occupied our businesses, our government, our courts, our schools, our churches, our home, our entertainment and our news. 

Don’t give him the power to also occupy your time.