Former US President Donald Trump has surprisingly joined TikTok, the popular short video platform, despite his previous attempts to ban the app during his presidency. His first post on the platform was a brief 13-second clip recorded at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, just days after he was convicted on 34 felony counts.
Standing alongside UFC President Dana White, Trump expressed his honor to be on TikTok and was seen interacting with fans at the arena. This move marks a significant departure from his earlier executive order aiming to ban TikTok in the US, which was ultimately blocked by the courts.
Trump’s change of heart on TikTok was influenced by a meeting with Jeff Yass, a Republican Party supporter and major TikTok investor. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden recently signed a bill that may lead to a ban on TikTok unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells the platform within nine months due to suspicions of data sharing with the Chinese government.
This unexpected move by Trump has certainly raised eyebrows and added an intriguing twist to the ongoing TikTok legal challenges in the US.