In August 2020, Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing national security concerns over TikTok. The order explained how TikTok is a threat to national security because its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, tracks data from U.S. users and “censors content that the Chinese Communist Party deems politically sensitive.”

After Trump left office in 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2024 that forced TikTok to either ban or sell their app.

While TikTok was challenging U.S. courts over the constitutionality of the ban-or-sell law, Trump joined the app during his campaign for the 2024 presidential election. 

On TikTok, Trump gained over a million followers within a couple of days. He was posting content with famous content creators such as Logan Paul and Adin Ross to attract young voters. 

“I went on TikTok,” Trump said at a rally. “Can you believe what it can do to win an election?” 

For a brief 14 hours on Jan. 18, TikTok went dark due to the impending ban that was set to take place the following day. An announcement appeared on TikTok when U.S. users tried opening the app, stating that Trump is working with them to “reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”

After Trump announced on Jan. 19 that he would halt the ban through an executive order, TikTok was back up for users in the United States. A new announcement appeared, thanking Trump for his efforts to bring back TikTok.

On Jan. 20, President Trump signed an executive order to temporarily halt the TikTok ban by 75 days. 

While the TikTok ban happened under Biden, it is important to note that Trump started the efforts to ban TikTok back in 2020. Many TikTok users have been thanking Trump for saving TikTok, probably without knowing why TikTok had to be saved in the first place.

Trump and the U.S. government have always addressed that TikTok is a threat to national security because Chinese companies, like ByteDance, are legally required to share data with the CCP.

However, Trump’s sudden drive to save TikTok came after his win in the 2024 election.

“Republicans have never won the youth vote,” Trump said. “We won the youth vote by 36 points. So I like TikTok.”

It is clear that Trump’s success in the 2024 election, especially with the youth vote, has inspired him to keep TikTok running in the United States. He stated on Truth Social that he would like to save TikTok by doing a 50% joint venture with the U.S. to “keep it in good hands” and keep the app worth billions of dollars.

Trump has always been the type of person who favors what benefits him, even if it means undermining others. This is shown by his attitude change on TikTok. 

A Pew Research poll suggests that 56% of adults aged 18-24 use TikTok. Trump clearly wants credit from younger demographics for keeping TikTok alive to increase his support from the youth. 

If his joint venture isn’t successful with TikTok, Trump might find other ways to circumvent the issue of national security to let TikTok run in the U.S.

According to Tufts Circle, half of eligible youth voters voted in the 2020 election. TikTok played a huge part in the 2020 election, as it was one of the biggest platforms where youth voters received their news. This was coincidentally the year when Trump was staunchly against TikTok and lost the 2020 presidential election.

In 2024, Trump used TikTok as a platform to reach younger voters and won the election. Of course, he doesn’t want TikTok to go anymore because he claimed it helped him win the election.

The TikTok ban and resurrection seem propagandistic towards supporting Trump. He is famously not popular with the youth but cares enough to try to get their approval, especially since all official TikTok announcements regarding the ban have been giving him shoutouts for his cooperative efforts. 

So, should Trump be receiving thanks for trying to save TikTok? Is it fair to thank him for putting out the fire he started?