In a surprise move, former US president Donald Trump joined the short video-sharing app TikTok. His first post was about the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fight he attended Saturday night (Jun. 1). 

The Associated Press reported that the presumptive Republican candidate for the race to the White House this November decided to create an account on the app he once tried to ban while he was still president, two days after he became the first former president in United States history to be found guilty on 34 felony charges.

The Independent added that UFC chief Dana White and commentators Joe Rogan and Jon Anik joined him on the ringside. Kevin Holland, who won against Michal Oleksiejczuk in one of the undercard matches that night, also talked with Trump after exiting the cage, the second time he has done so since UFC 287

Trump's attendance at the UFC was his first since a New York court found him guilty on Thursday, May 30, of charges related to his hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. He maintained his innocence and is planning to appeal the verdict. 

His sentence is scheduled for July 11.

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Trump's First TikTok Video

UFC 302's fight night highlight was Trump's ringside appearance at the venue in Newark, New Jersey, recorded in his first TikTok video. In it, he waved to fans and posed for selfies. 

By Sunday morning (Jun. 2), Trump's first TikTok video had garnered over 1.1 million followers on the platform, over 1 million likes, and 24 million views. 

ByteDance, a Beijing-based company, owns TikTok, and Trump asserted that the proliferation of mobile applications made by Chinese companies posed a threat to national security.

Despite this, the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warned that ByteDance could share user data, like browser history, location, and biometric identifiers, with the Chinese government.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that the candidate's campaign would "leave no front undefended" as it would seek to reach younger voters, with the UFC event being the best place to launch Trump's TikTok account. 

The policy reversal was not isolated to the GOP, as incumbent Democratic US President Joe Biden signed legislation in April that could ban TikTok in the country despite his campaign joining the platform in February to attempt to work with influencers. 

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