President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance returned to TikTok on Monday after not posting on the video platform for nearly a year. And it feels like a victory lap by people who are about to see their allies turn the platform into a safe space for Trump supporters.
“To all of those young people of TikTok, I saved TikTok, so you owe me big,” Trump said. “And now, you’re looking at me in the Oval Office, and someday one of you are gonna be sitting right at this desk, and you’re gonna be doing a great job also.”
It’s a weird video, obviously, but it speaks to something President Trump has been saying ever since he pulled a 180 on whether TikTok should be banned. Trump initially attempted to ban TikTok on national security grounds with an executive order in 2020. He argued that TikTok’s China-based ownership, ByteDance, posed a threat to the U.S. because it collected data on American users and manipulated the algorithm in ways contrary to U.S. interests.
But Trump flipped his position in March 2024, during the lead-up to the presidential election, insisting that it was a good platform for him, filled with young people who support him. The legislation passed by Congress, and signed into law by President Joe Biden, that was supposed to force Chinese ownership to divest from the platform or be banned in the U.S. entirely, hasn’t been enforced. Trump has now delayed the ban four times.
JD gets racist again
Vice President JD Vance also returned to TikTok with a new video on Monday explaining how he was “relaunching” his page. Vance has a similar swagger, trying to make jokes and come off as relatable despite the horrific atrocities the Trump regime has been committing, from unlawful strikes against people in Venezuela to the invasion of U.S. cities with secret police.
“I got a little lazy the last few months, was focused on the job of being VP, not enough on TikToks, that’s about to change,” Vance said in the video. “So follow along, we’ll update you on what’s going on in the White House, business of state, we’ll update you on what’s going on politically, maybe some sombrero memes here and there, but follow along and we’ll look forward to connecting on TikTok.”
Vance’s last TikTok video before Monday was from Nov. 4, 2024, the day before the 2024 presidential election. The reference to sombreros is the racist meme that he and Trump have been spreading, showing Democrats in the hats because they falsely claim that people like Hakeem Jeffries are trying to get health care for undocumented immigrants during shutdown negotiations.
@jd Glad to be back on TikTok thanks to President Trump! Follow along here for more updates from the White House, and maybe even some sombrero memes
♬ original sound – J.D. Vance
Who’s buying TikTok?
Trump’s allies, including Larry Ellison’s Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, are reporting working to finalize a deal to buy a large stake in TikTok, which may or may not adhere to the 2024 law.
Ellison’s son, David Ellison, runs Paramount, which made some significant changes to its lineup to curry favor with Trump during the lead-up to its merger with Skydance. The company paid out a $16 million settlement to Trump as part of a nuisance lawsuit against CBS News and 60 Minutessomething that late-night host Stephen Colbert characterized as a “bribe” before his show was cancelled at the behest of Trump.
To veteran 60 Minutes producer even quit, suggesting he no longer had the ability to work freely without interference from management. And CBS News announced it was buying the right-wing opinion outlet The Free Press on Monday, bringing Bari Weiss on to oversee all of CBS News. If you’re not familiar with Weiss, a quote from her recently featured in the New York Times might best express where she’s coming from.
“I know that there are some people in this room who don’t believe that my marriage should have been legal,” Weiss told the conservative Federalist Society in 2023, referring to the fact that she has a wife. “And that’s OK. Because we’re all Americans who want lower taxes.”
The Murdochs, the people we have to thank for Fox News, are also involved in the TikTok deal, according to Trump. All of this is to say that there’s a seismic shift happening right now in who controls the largest media platforms in the country, from traditional spaces like CBS to digital spaces like TikTok.
Where’s the actual deal?
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent first announced a framework for a deal had been reached on Sept. 15, and Trump has repeatedly tried to suggest it’s finished. And while there has been a lot of reporting about what it might look like, there’s no definitive deal yet, as far as anyone can tell.
All of the uncertainty about the impending sale has led to people wondering what TikTok will look like in the coming months and years. Oracle was founded as a CIA project, after all, and Ellison has not been shy about discussing technology as a way to control the population.
Trump himself has also acknowledged that he’d like to make TikTok a place for MAGA ideas exclusively.
“If I could, I’d make it 100% MAGA-related,” Trump said to laughter in the Oval Office on Sept. 25. “It’s actually a good question, but I would… If I could make it 100% MAGA, I would. But it’s not going to work out that way, unfortunately.”
Many TikTok users have also noticed a dramatic shift in the kind of content they’ve been served on the platform over the past two weeks, skewing more towards conservative content, and anecdotally, Gizmodo can report the same thing. Whereas videos of far-right figures like Nick Fuentes were basically unheard of, I have now seen two videos of the white supremacist recently.
It really does seem like TikTok’s algorithm is about to change dramatically, even more than we’ve seen so far. And it’s bound to become a safe space for Trump and his buddies, with these right-wing goons basically declaring victory over their conquered territory.
