By Kristine Pascual, Feb. 4, 2025
Nearing the end of the presidential election, President Donald Trump saw TikTok as an opportunity to brainwash a key demographic he had previously alienated: Gen Z.
According to Forbes, more than 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z, referring to those born after 1996. Trump, a businessman seized the perfect moment to appeal to a key demographic in order to win the 2025 election.
For 170 million users, TikTok went dark the night of Jan. 18. After former President Joe Biden’s administration moved forward with efforts to permanently ban the app in the United States, citing concerns over security risks over its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The news was not well received by young Americans and to their surprise, Trump vowed to save the app he once wanted to ban.
“Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now,” the notification read. “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
The choice of phrasing was deliberate. Using words such as “fortunate” and “solution” allude to Trump as a heroic leader. Users were heartbroken over the loss of the app, with some users experiencing heavy withdrawals and police warning against calling 911 over mental breakdowns.
Unsure of when or if the app would resume, many users posted goodbye TikToks, asking followers to find them on other platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. To everyone’s surprise, 14 hours later, the app was back up and running with a new message: “As a result of President Donald Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!”
Prior to TikTok’s resurgence, if a user tried to use TikTok, a different message popped up, and it also mentioned Trump.
The half-day shutdown felt suspicious on top of the praise for Trump, which was seemingly a calculated political move to paint him as the app’s savior. Many users took to TikTok to express confusion over the reasoning for the app going dark just for it to reappear less than a day later. Other users posted videos in support of Trump, offering their “vote,” or in other words, their support.
Some users felt the need to thank Trump for his efforts in bringing back the popular app; however, Trump has a history with TikTok. Flashback to Trump’s first presidential term in 2020 when he aggressively tried to ban the app over national security concerns due to Chinese ownership. Fast forward to the end of Biden’s term and, according to NPR, Trump signed an executive order to pause the TikTok ban for 75 days.
Looking back at his first term, it is clear Trump is no stranger to controversy, particularly in the world of X, formerly known as Twitter. He wrecked the public’s perception of journalists, often attacking publications for writing “fake news” and referring to the press as the “enemy of the people.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump was accused of spreading misinformation on social media platforms, which led to discourse over content moderation. Following the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump was permanently banned from using X “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” according to NPR.
TikTok went dark for users for about 14 hours until Savior Trump came in hot, announcing on social media he would issue an executive order to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until April. Once again, the key detail to remember is Trump started this mess, and his only reasoning for pausing the ban was for political gain.
He does not care about anyone other than himself and those in his tax bracket, which most Americans fall short of. He wanted to appeal to a younger audience, and for some, his tactics worked. It was a calculated attempt to grab the attention and support of Gen Z, many of whom use TikTok as their main form of news consumption. In the four years he was president, Trump neglected young voter’s concerns including abortion, gun reform and climate change.
Mechanical engineer student Brayden Lundy noticed a shift in Trump supporters after a pause was put on the ban.
“I’ve seen other Republicans change their minds all of a sudden about TikTok,” Lundy said. “I think they’re trying to trick you into thinking Trump is a good person, like he’s for the people.”
Trump framed himself as TikTok’s savior to create a distraction from his administration’s controversial actions. The first three days of his presidency included redefining birthright citizenship, pausing the distribution of federal funds to non-governmental organizations and renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America among other questionable decisions.
To the common eye, Trump is undoing the good that was done before his second term. Admittedly, Biden’s presidency was nowhere near perfect, but it was a lot better than Trump’s leadership. Trump purposely led with postponing the ban to prove he has done something right for those who are against him. Don’t let your excitement for your favorite app blind you to the things he’s doing to hurt immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, women and above all, democracy.
Trump’s TikTok ploy is a key example of manipulation within presidential campaigning. By having the power to take away TikTok, but instead giving it back to Gen Z, Trump orchestrated this narrative to sway younger voters to his side with some users who have previously expressed disdain for him.
“I’m not a fan of the tactics Trump is using; it’s manipulation,” Lundy said. “We want to be wary that he’s not doing it for us, but he’s doing this for his agenda.”
His choice to put a pause on the banning of TikTok doesn’t outweigh his years of harmful policies. Trump didn’t save TikTok like he wants us to believe — he exploited it for political gain.
Feature image courtesy of Connor Hampton