MidReal Story
Social Media Showdown: Trump's TikTok Ultimatum
Scenario: Trump: If TikTok is Banned, I Will Drop out of the U.S. presidential race.
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I was in my campaign headquarters, a bustling hub of activity and strategy.
Sarah Johnson, my campaign manager, was helping me strategize for the presidential election.
We were discussing a recent announcement I made about banning TikTok.
I was frustrated by the damage the social media platform could do as a tool of the Chinese government.
Sarah carefully explained how my move to ban the app could also alienate younger voters.
I was worried I might have to win without them.
In the end, I made a strategic decision that would blow up into a national sensation.
I remembered exactly what Sarah said when I walked into the office: “Sir, they just don’t want to hear it,” Sarah said wearily, rubbing her temples.
“I don’t know what else to tell them,” she continued.
“They just don’t seem to understand that you’re taking this seriously.”
“I know,” I said, taking a seat in front of her desk.
Sarah Johnson was my campaign manager and she knew that no one would understand.
I’d been in politics long enough to know that people would never be satisfied with the decisions I made, no matter how much they thought they knew about it.
They weren’t the ones who had to make those decisions; they didn’t have all of the information that I did.
That’s why I hired Sarah.
She was smart and organized and always two steps ahead of me when it came to strategy.
She was also patient and could handle anything I threw at her—she’d been doing a lot of that recently.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was being pulled in a million different directions; everywhere I turned there seemed to be another fire that needed putting out.
“Just try again,” Sarah said, handing me a thick stack of papers.
I took a deep breath and skimmed over the press release she’d prepared.
“What’s our stance on TikTok?”
I asked, already knowing that it wasn’t going to be good.
The app had been on my radar for months now and it seemed like every time someone mentioned it, my blood pressure went up a couple of notches.
“We’re looking into it,” Sarah said carefully.
“I need something more concrete than that,” I said, frustrated.
“It’s a difficult situation, Sir,” she said, trying to choose her words carefully so as to not upset me any further.
“The Chinese government has a history of using their power to gain access to American technology and information; we can’t ignore that.”
“Would we be giving up access to an important platform for our campaign?”
“TikTok is unique because of its algorithm; its ability to predict what users want to see has made it incredibly successful and important for our outreach efforts.”
“But it’s not American,” I said, my voice hard.
“And while it has a massive user base of over 800 million active monthly users worldwide, it has more than 100 million users in the United States alone.”
“Any of whom could have their information stolen by a foreign power,” Sarah said.
I hated playing devil’s advocate with her—I always lost.
She was too good at this job and she knew me way too well.
“I just can’t believe that an entire generation is going to lose access to something they love because of a decision that I have to make to protect them.”
“It’s not like they won’t survive without it,” Sarah said logically.
“And until we know more, there’s no point in getting upset about it.”
“Fine,” I said grudgingly, setting aside the papers she’d given me full of talking points for my next interview.
“We have more important things to worry about.”
Like making sure I was reelected for a second term so I could actually help this country, instead of being hamstrung by those who were more interested in playing politics and protecting their own interests than doing what was right for the citizens of the United States of America.
“I’m just saying that if it comes down to it, I’m going to be really unhappy that I won’t be able to make any more TikToks,” I said as I stood up to leave her office, a wide grin on my face at the thought of one of my favorite pastimes being taken away from me.
“You have a whole library of material to work with,” she said, not looking up from her computer screen as she typed out an email from her growing to-do list of things that she needed to take care of before she left for the day.
“Yeah,” I said, still grinning.
“But I like staying relevant and it’s one of the best ways to reach people these days.”
Sarah paused and looked up at me over her glasses, her eyes narrowed at me as though she were trying to figure out whether or not I was being serious.
“You’re not actually famous on TikTok, are you?”
she asked as though she were praying that it wasn’t true.
I nodded and her eyes got even narrower.
“I have over a million followers,” I said proudly.
“And I think it’s because I’m so good at it that people are worried about what will happen if we have to ban it.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“You are such a narcissist,” she muttered under her breath.
“Why did I hire you again?”
she asked me rhetorically.
I grinned at her and waggled my eyebrows.
“Because you love me,” I said confidently.
“I don’t know about that,” she said, turning her attention back to her computer screen.
