NUMBER CRUNCHING

Trump’s TikTok Popularity Brag Blows Up in His Face

The president seemingly inflated his perceived influence on the video-sharing app.

Donald Trump’s claim that he is the most popular figure on TikTok is not grounded in reality.

While speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday about the apparent “dangers” of TikTok, the 80-year-old president made the dubious claim that “new numbers just came out” showing he was the “number one person” on the video-sharing app.

“I’m number one. Like Taylor Swift was number 11. I’m number one on TikTok by far. And the numbers just came out,” Trump said.

“It was sent to me by—you know, the list comes out. Number one, number two,” Trump rambled on. “I was number one by a lot. So I guess maybe, I don’t know, maybe they’re bad, maybe they’re not.”

The figures Trump were referring to appear to be ones he shared on Sunday during a typically deranged posting spree on his preferred social media platform, Truth Social.

In one post, the 80-year-old president shared a message from TikTok CEO Shou Chew about the popularity of Trump-related videos and content on the app.

“Attached are the latest numbers of the President on TikTok. All-time views of #Trump TikToks are now at 425 billion,” the message from Chew states. “Also, 1 billion new views across UFC 250, Trump’s Iran Peace Deal and ‘Happy Birthday, Mr. President’ TikToks in just 48 hours! Wishing the President a belated happy birthday!”

BILLS, BILLS, BILLS

Trump, 80, Unravels Over New Obsession in 1AM Meltdown

Ewan Palmer

The message was shared alongside a graph breaking down the figures. However, rather than showing Trump is the most popular person on TikTok overall, it actually says the U.S. president is the “most followed and watched” world leader on the app.

As noted by MeidasTouch, the graph shared by Trump notes there have been four billion views this year linked to “Trump-related D.C. beautification” projects on TikTok.

However, those projects include work to refill and repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, meaning the billions of views could include videos mocking the green algae infestation that has embarrassed Trump’s pool renovation effort.

In January 2025, just before returning to office, Trump posted on Truth Social that he did not want to ban TikTok because he apparently received billions of views on the platform.

“Why would I want to get rid of TikTok?” he wrote while sharing another graph showing Trump-based content gets billions of views on the app.

At the time, there were growing calls to ban TikTok in the U.S. over national security concerns unless its Chinese parent company severed ties with the app.

There was even a brief period last January when TikTok went offline in the U.S. after it failed to comply with a law requiring ByteDance to divest its ownership.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Ewan PalmerReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.