U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during the NATO leaders’ summit at the Beystep Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey on July 8, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst | reuters
President Donald Trump said several times this week that he is “number one” on TikTok.
“The new numbers have just come out,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. He said, “Do you know who is the number one person on TikTok so far? Trump. Me.” The president said she had overtaken Taylor Swift, whom he said was “number 11” on the social media app.
As of July 9, Trump has 16.7 million followers on TikTok. Taylor Swift has more than twice as many TikTok followers as Trump, with 33.5 million followers as of July 9.
The most followed person on the app is Khabane Lame, a Senegalese influencer known for his comedic productions. Lam has 162.3 million followers on the video-sharing platform. This is almost 10 times more than Trump’s following.
After Lamm, the second-most followed person on TikTok is 22-year-old Charli D’Amelio, who rose to fame in late 2019 after her dance video went viral. He has 159.2 million followers.
“I was number one,” Trump said at the NATO summit on Wednesday. “All these entertainers, they’re at number 27, 29, it’s crazy. I don’t even understand myself, but that means my point is getting out.”
a sunday true social The post adds some clarity to Trump’s claims. Trump posted a message from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew saying the president is the most followed world leader on the app.
Asked for comment on the discrepancy, the White House noted Second Truth Social post where Trump reposted the original.
A CNBC analysis found that Trump has the most followers among world leaders on the app. He is followed by El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele with 12.9 million followers, Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum with 9.3 million followers and France’s Emmanuel Macron with 7.3 million followers.
Many world leaders do not have TikTok accounts, including China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and several heads of Middle Eastern countries. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gained 1.5 million followers on social platforms.
On the other side of the aisle, former Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, has 10.1 million followers on the app. Former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden do not have official accounts.
Trump’s TikTok content mostly consists of short videos of him sitting in the Oval Office talking directly to viewers about various presidential priorities, announcements, and initiatives.
Some videos appear to be more light-hearted than others, including a May 26 video explaining why he nicknamed the Democrats “Dumocrats.”
“It’s just a change of one letter,” he said in the video. “They’re really kind of stupid people.”
Another video from May shows the president grabbing late-night television host Stephen Colbert and throwing him into a dumpster on stage before dancing to the Village People’s hit song, “YMCA.”
He said at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey this week that he uses the platform to talk about America’s success and “how bad communism is.”
The President has 111.7 million followers on other social media platforms like X. He has 44 million followers on Instagram and 12.9 million followers on Truth Social.