WASHINGTON D.C, Oct 6, 2025 – In a move that’s equal parts bold and eyebrow-raising, President Donald Trump made his TikTok debut on Monday, dropping a video that cheekily reminds Generation Z they “owe him” for keeping their favorite scroll-fest alive. The clip, posted amid the dust settling from a high-stakes U.S.-China tech showdown, has already sparked a firestorm of reactions—from cheers to conspiracy-laden eye-rolls.
The video arrives just days after Trump greenlit a blockbuster $14 billion deal to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. Under the agreement, announced last week, the app will morph into a U.S.-based joint venture, with American investors holding the majority stake and ByteDance capped at under 20% ownership. Oracle steps in as the security watchdog, storing all U.S. user data in its domestic cloud to slam the door on any foreign snooping.
Trump’s TikTok flex comes hot on the heels of his own administration’s saga with the app. Back in 2020, as president, he kicked off the push to ban TikTok over national security fears tied to ByteDance’s Beijing roots. Fast-forward to April 2024: Congress passed a law forcing a sale or shutdown by January 19, 2025. But after reclaiming the White House, Trump hit the pause button—not once, but four times via executive orders—pushing the deadline all the way to December 16, 2025.
On September 25, he pulled the trigger on the deal, touting it as a win for American innovation. Key safeguards include retraining TikTok’s vaunted recommendation algorithms on U.S.-only data, all under independent watchdogs to nix any whiff of content meddling. ByteDance gets one seat on the seven-member board but sits out the security committee entirely.
White House economists are popping champagne, projecting the setup will pump $178 billion into the U.S. economy over the next four years while keeping the app humming for its 170 million American users. “This isn’t just about dances and duets—it’s about data sovereignty and dollars staying home,” a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity.
But Trump’s victory lap on TikTok? That’s where things get spicy. In the 14-second clip, the president flashes his signature grin against a backdrop of American flags, declaring Gen Z owes him big for averting a total blackout. The post, shared via a Trump-aligned X account, has racked up over 52,000 views in under a day, but the replies section is a battlefield. Critics are piling on, with some accusing him of handing the reins to “Zionist propagandists” or labeling it an “Israel psyop.” Others, like one user, quipped, “Gen Z hates Trump and vows to cancel TikTok!”
Pro-Trump voices, meanwhile, are hailing it as peak trolling. “JD Vance is already on there—watch the Dems sweat,” one supporter posted. The video’s timing couldn’t be sharper: With midterms looming, Trump’s team sees TikTok as a Gen Z gateway, especially after the platform’s algorithm-fueled role in past elections.
For now, the app lives to scroll another day. Whether that earns Trump eternal Gen Z gratitude—or just more memes—remains the million-duet question. Stay tuned; in the world of Trump 2.0, every post is a potential plot twist.