Donald Trump joined TikTok on Saturday night and has already posted his first video: a montage of his night at a UFC fight in New Jersey, just days after becoming a convicted felon.
The flashy 13-second launch video shows Trump entering the arena, waving to fans and posing for selfies.
It saw Trump shaking hands and taking selfies with several fans during the UFC fight.
“The president is on TikTok right now,” Trump was introduced by UFC president Dana White, before saying directly to the camera, “It’s my honor,” as Kid Rock’s American Bad Ass played in the background.
Donald Trump joined TikTok on Saturday evening and posted his first video: a montage of his night at a UFC fight in New Jersey. He appeared alongside UFC President Dana White
The flashy launch video showed Trump entering the arena, waving to fans and posing for selfies
At the end of the video, Trump leans close to the camera and asks, “That was a good walk, right?”
At the end of the video, Trump leans close to the camera and asks, “That was a good walk, right?”
The former president aptly captioned his first TikTok: “Launching my TikTok at UFC 302.”
Trump appeared to have amassed 220,000 followers in just a few hours, though that’s just a fraction of TikTok’s 170 million users in the United States and more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
Trump was introduced to TikTok during his recent hush money trial.
As he waited for the verdict in a back room of the courthouse last week, his eldest son, Don Jr., introduced his father to the podium.
They appeared in a TikTok together while discussing their next mean tweet. Don Jr. currently has 345,000 followers and only started using the app last week.
Trump is joining TikTok — and reaching potential younger voters — after the app could be banned altogether in coming months if it doesn’t divest from Chinese owner ByteDance, after Biden signed a law in April forcing a sale.
Last week, as he waited for the verdict in a back room of the courthouse, his eldest son, Don Jr., introduced his father at the podium. Don Jr. also joined TikTok last week
However, Trump wasn’t always a supporter of the app either and tried to ban the addictive app during his presidency due to national security concerns.
Like Trump, Joe Biden’s campaign joined TikTok in February and has 334,000 followers.
Trump has said he believes ByteDance still poses a threat to national security, but that blocking the app would anger young Americans and only help Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
Trump was suspended from Facebook for two years after the 2021 Capitol Riot.
He has said that he “considers Facebook an enemy of the people, along with much of the media.”
As Saturday night’s TikTok shows, the president’s 34 convictions did nothing to dampen the excitement of some 17,000 fans at the Prudential Center in Newark, who stood up in excitement as the guest of honor entered the arena at 10 p.m.
Trump, who served as US president from 2017 to 2020, was convicted on Thursday of 34 charges of falsifying company records as a jury reached a verdict in his hush money trial.
He received a loud ovation as he entered the arena with chants of “USA, USA!” erupted after Trump followed fighter Sean Strickland’s entrance.
“He gets a standing ovation from the crowd,” said one of the fight commentators.
Donald Trump received a standing ovation as he arrived at UFC 302 in New Jersey – just days after becoming a convicted felon
When Trump walked into the arena, he was greeted by popular comedian Theo Von, who eagerly shook the president’s hand. Trump smiled at Von and patted him affectionately on the shoulder.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was also in attendance, appeared on the screen and received a standing ovation.
Spotlights flew around the arena and loud rock music blared from the speakers.
Chants of “we want Trump” and “f**k Joe Biden” echoed through the crowd.
In the audience, some supporters proudly waved Trump 2024 flags.
Dana White led Trump through the crowd. Spectators cheered and applauded the former president.
As Trump walked down the path near the ring, people leaned out of their chairs to shake his hand.
Chants of “USA, USA!” erupted after Trump followed fighter Sean Strickland’s entrance
Without breaking stride, Trump turned around, gave a high five and shook hands with his enthusiastic supporters.
The camera stayed close to Trump’s face, which showed a smile and a grateful expression.
At one point, the president paused and shook his fist in the air in jubilation. The roar of applause was deafening.
Before taking his seat, Trump waved to several members of the crowd and repeatedly said “thank you” to his ardent fans.
Trump walked right in front of Aaron Rodgers, who remained seated and watched the president pass by.
Spectators at the Prudential Center seemed unwilling to sit down. Long after Trump entered, many people in the audience stood, cheered and filmed videos of him on their phones.
“Well, you had a sneaking suspicion that former President Trump would be in the building for UFC 302,” the commentator shared.
“Boy, the applause he’s getting right now is pretty staggering,” Joe Rogan, the other commentator, said incredulously.
At one point, the president paused and shook his fist in the air in jubilation. The roar of applause was deafening
The camera stayed close to Trump’s face, which alternated between a smile and a grateful expression
On his way to his ringside seat, Trump stopped at the broadcaster’s box and shook hands with Joe Rogan.
Rogan can be heard saying, “Thank you, sir.”
Trump took a seat on the corner of the ring, from where he watched the fight between Makhachev and Poirier.
As the president watched the fight, a “f**k Joe Biden” chant erupted.
Trump raised his fist in the air and the crowd cheered with joy.
After fighter Kevin Holland defeated Michal Oleksiejzcuk, he climbed out of the cage and shook hands with Trump.
The UFC athlete seemed excited as he shook hands with the former president.
Holland whispered something to Trump, who then patted the athlete’s hand.
The jury in Trump’s trial found that he illegally influenced the 2016 election by concealing a $130,000 hush money payment from porn star Stormy Daniels — who claims he had a consensual sexual encounter a decade earlier (Trump has denied that ).
Each charge carries a possible maximum penalty of up to four years in prison.
Trump will be sentenced on July 11, although it is unlikely there will be any prison time.
He is the first president in US history to be convicted of a crime and has spoken out against the “rigged” trial, which he said was politically motivated, as his 2024 re-election campaign gathers pace.
The jury in Trump’s trial ruled that he illegally influenced the 2016 election by concealing a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump raised as much as $52 million in donations for his White House campaign in the 24 hours after the guilty verdicts, suggesting many of his supporters agree his convictions were unfair.
A DailyMail.com poll conducted Thursday evening after the verdict was announced found that positive views of Trump among the electorate as a whole rose by six percentage points.
During a news conference on Friday, Trump praised the results of the investigation, calling it proof that the American people are standing with him.
Trump faces three other criminal trials for mishandling classified documents, trying to influence the outcome of the 2020 election and inciting the Jan. 6 riots.