REALITY CHECK

White House TikTok Account Backfires in a Storm of Trump Trolling

In almost all of the posts, the top-liked comment was critical of the president.

A White House TikTok account aimed at appealing to younger voters has instead become a magnet for relentless trolling.

The @whitehouse account’s debut post was a cinematic highlight reel of President Donald Trump captioned, “America, we are BACK!”—and it went downhill from there.

The handle has become a gold-plated hangout for left-wing influencers, meme lords, and critics treating every video like an open mic night.

Trump has long bragged that his team’s mastery of social media was central to his political rise. But the White House’s TikTok debut suggests that formula may be faltering.

According to The Washington Post, eight people familiar with the matter described internal disputes over who should lead the account, the tone to strike, and “how aggressive the videos should be.”

The launch unfolded against the backdrop of delicate negotiations with Beijing, as U.S. and Chinese officials announced a “basic consensus” on a plan to spin off TikTok’s U.S. operations. Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week.

Despite the celebratory debut, trolls stormed the account’s comments section, with left-leaning influencers and Democratic accounts posting memes and demands for the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On 97 of the first 101 posts, the top-liked comment was critical of Trump, according to The Post. Some responses featured AI-generated caricatures, while other comments included a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin walking Trump on a leash. Another image read: “A felon married to an immigrant is telling us that the problem is immigrants and felons.”

Aaron Parnas, a left-wing TikTok influencer with more than four million followers, told The Post he set alerts to comment immediately on new White House uploads. On the left there is a “concerted effort to just blast them,” Parnas said.

Officials inside the White House defended the account’s performance, noting it gained nearly 1 million followers in its first month. “The White House has an authentic style and unmatched communications strategy because it’s led by the greatest communicator in the history of American politics — President Donald J. Trump,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement.

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Yet engagement levels have fallen short of Trump’s 2024 campaign TikTok account. An expert said institutional accounts typically struggle for traction compared to individual ones. The “boring part of governance” is a tougher sell online, former Facebook executive Katie Harbath told The Post.

Congress has passed a bipartisan law requiring TikTok to be sold or banned over national security concerns, though T enforcement has been delayed through executive orders.

Trump signaled this week that Washington had reached a deal with Beijing that will allow TikTok to keep running in the U.S.

“The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly,” Trump wrote in a vague Truth Social post.

“A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”

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Isabel van BrugenFreelance Writer

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