"We Are Back": White House Launches Official TikTok Account
The White House launched a TikTok account on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump continues to permit the Chinese-owned platform to operate in the United States despite a law requiring its sale.
"America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?" read a caption on the account's first post on the popular video sharing app, a 27-second clip.
The account had about 4,500 followers an hour after posting the video. Trump's personal account on TikTok meanwhile has 110.1 million followers, though his last post was on November 5, 2024 -- Election Day.
TikTok is owned by China-based internet company ByteDance.
A federal law requiring TikTok's sale or ban on national security grounds was due to take effect the day before Trump's inauguration on January 20.
But the Republican, whose 2024 election campaign relied heavily on social media and who has said he is fond of TikTok, put the ban on pause.
In mid-June Trump extended a deadline for the popular video-sharing app by another 90 days to find a non-Chinese buyer or be banned in the United States.
That extension is due to expire in mid-September.
While Trump had long supported a ban or divestment, he reversed his position and vowed to defend the platform -- which boasts almost two billion global users -- after coming to believe it helped him win young voters' support in the November election.
Trump's official account on X, formerly Twitter, has 108.5 million followers -- though his favored social media outlet is Truth Social, which he owns, where he has 10.6 million followers.
The official White House accounts on X and Instagram have 2.4 million and 9.3 million followers, respectively.
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Landmark Group to invest Rs 400 cr in Gurugram luxury housing project
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Brics rising: The unintended consequences of Trump's tariff strategy
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The very idea that Putin—who has staked both his domestic legitimacy and Russia's global posture on the war—would simply concede ground because of Trump's famed 'art of the deal' was a misreading of history and power. The war in Ukraine is not a real estate transaction that can be clinched over a handshake; it is a geopolitical struggle with deep historical roots, and treating it as otherwise was bound to end in failure. This failure also highlights a consistent pattern in Trump's political praxis: the reduction of complex global problems into spectacles of personality and improvisation. His handling of trade wars, marked by a cavalcade of tariffs against adversaries and allies alike, displays the same misplaced faith in unilateral gestures. Tariffs were announced and withdrawn like a magician pulling rabbits from a hat, with little thought to the long-term economic consequences for America or its partners. In the same vein, his diplomacy with Putin rests on the assumption that intimidation mixed with personal charm can resolve conflicts that are, in fact, structural and historical. Such an approach not only undermines America's credibility but also erodes the very fabric of international cooperation. Trump's method of reducing diplomacy to impulsive theatrics has made foreign policy a stage, but one where the curtain rises to reveal more chaos than resolution. The ongoing strain in India-US trade relations only reinforces the hollowness of Trump's transactional approach to diplomacy. His willingness to dangle punitive tariffs on Indian exports—while casually offering to hold them back in exchange for India's supposed cessation of Russian oil imports—reveals not a strategy but a bargaining tactic better suited for a casino floor than a negotiation between sovereign nations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The irony, of course, is striking: while lecturing India on its trade with Moscow, Trump himself could not justify America's continued import of Russian uranium and fertilizers, dismissing the question with a characteristic shrug of ignorance. This double standard not only undermines Washington's moral high ground but also alienates a critical partner in Asia. For India, whose agricultural and dairy sectors remain the backbone of rural livelihoods, acquiescing to Washington's demands would not be ideal. Thus, what emerges is not the 'art of the deal' but the art of bluster—policies that neither secure American interests nor respect those of its allies. It is evident that Trump's displeasure with India stems from its outright refusal to endorse his unsolicited claim of brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, a rejection that undercut his self-fashioned image as a global dealmaker. In retaliation, the use of steep tariffs and selective economic pressures on New Delhi appears less like coherent policy and more like bullying tactics, designed to remind India of America's leverage. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It is quite telling that both economists and seasoned strategists in the United States have spoken with one voice in denouncing Trump's tariff gambit against India. Jeffrey Sachs, a renowned economist and professor at Columbia University, sharply criticised Trump's tariff decisions, calling them a mere pressure tactic against New Delhi and warning that such steps risk undoing years of progress in India–US relations. He went further to describe the duties as 'bizarre' and 'self-destructive,' highlighting how they damage America's own foreign policy interests. John Bolton, a veteran foreign policy hawk who served as National Security Adviser during Trump's first administration, also criticised Trump, arguing that penalising India for its oil trade with Russia—while sparing China for doing the same—was a serious strategic miscalculation. He warned that this selective targeting could push India closer toward the Beijing–Moscow axis, calling it an 'unforced error' that undermines America's broader geopolitical goals. Bolton's warning likely carries a deeper strategic charge: by punishing India over Russian oil while overlooking China's larger energy ties with Moscow, Washington signals that its ire is selective—and New Delhi reads selectivity as unreliability, not leverage. India's purchases of discounted Russian crude have reached or neared record levels and are central to its inflation management and refining exports; coercive tariffs would mean hardening India's resolve to keep that lifeline and to hedge more visibly with Moscow. 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STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Chinese foreign ministry recently remarked that India and China, as 'major developing countries and important members of the Global South,' should embrace a 'cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant as partners helping each other succeed,' according to Global Times. In this context, and amid India's escalating tariff tensions with the United States, reports suggest that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon announce the resumption of direct flights between India and China, with a formal deal expected during his visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit at the end of August—his first trip to China in seven years. This combination of rhetorical warmth and concrete steps toward engagement reveals Beijing's desire to recalibrate its strained ties with New Delhi. 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His message was clear: India's economic and strategic decisions will not be dictated by external pressures, no matter how formidable, but will be guided by its own vision of growth, security, and global engagement. In standing firm, India not only asserts its sovereignty but also signals a larger shift in the global order, where nations of the Global South are increasingly unwilling to be coerced into choosing sides in conflicts not of their making. The writer takes special interest in history, culture and geopolitics. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
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