U.S. leaders have done a stunning about-face on TikTok , leaving the public to question whether years of dire warnings about a national security threat were overstated from the start.

Just four years ago, President Donald Trump tried to ban the shor-form video app outright, declaring that its Chinese ownership through ByteDance posed "credible" dangers to American data and security. Now, his White House boasts an official TikTok account, and the president dismisses those same concerns as "highly overrated."

The shift reflects both Washington’s political recalibration and the app’s growing popularity. Trump’s 2024 campaign leaned heavily on TikTok’s reach, amassing millions of followers. Last week, the White House formally launched an account, underscoring a complete reversal from his f

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