Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Donald Trump recently asserted his dominance over Taylor Swift on TikTok, yet his bold claims seem untethered from actual platform data.
During a White House press briefing on Monday, July 6, the former president made the unfounded boast that his following on the social media app—which he mistakenly referred to as “Tic Tac”—far exceeds that of the global pop phenomenon. “There’s a thing called TikTok, have you heard of it?” he told the press. “The new numbers just came out, and you know who the number one person is by far? Trump. Me.”
He continued, doubling down on the comparison: “I’m number one. Taylor Swift was number eleven. I’m the leader on TikTok by a significant margin.”
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment regarding the remarks.
While the origin of Trump’s statistics remains unclear, a quick verification on the platform tells a different story. Trump currently maintains a following of 16.7 million, while Swift boasts a audience of 33.5 million—more than double his count. Furthermore, both figures are vastly overshadowed by top-tier creators like Khaby Lame (162.3 million), Charli D’Amelio (159.1 million), and MrBeast (129.1 million).
This swipe at the superstar may be a strategic pivot to generate buzz for his newly unveiled “Trump Accounts” initiative. Trump has frequently utilized polarizing pop culture references as a PR tactic; previously, when the White House faced scrutiny for using Swift’s track “The Fate of Ophelia” in a promotional video, a spokesperson dismissively told Variety: “We knew fake news media brands would breathlessly amplify this. Congrats, you got played.”
Meanwhile, Swift has remained at the center of the cultural conversation, most notably following her high-profile wedding to Travis Kelce over the Fourth of July weekend. The pair exchanged vows on Friday, July 3, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with the venue confirming the milestone to the public via the iconic exterior screens that read: “JUST MARRIED.”
