‘Free speech and transparency’: White House launches Rumble account as social media presence grows

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is launching a Rumble account as its presence on social media grows larger, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. 

A White House official told Fox Digital that it will launch a Rumble account on Monday morning similar to its YouTube account as part of President Donald Trump’s plan “to reach the American people where they are and provide unparalleled transparency and accountability in government.” 

Rumble is a video platform founded in 2013 as an alternative to YouTube, which has a long track record of accusations surrounding censoring and limiting conservative content.

“We thank President Trump and his entire team for their commitment to free speech and transparency, and we are extremely proud that Rumble is now a small part of White House outreach to the people of America and the world. At Rumble, we fight every day for the innate human right of self-expression, and we connect people directly to the marketplace of ideas to avoid the screeners and censors of Big Tech, the corporate media and governments around the globe,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski told Fox News Digital. 

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Donald Trump waves to supporters in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Rumble is a publicly traded company that most recently reported hosting 67 million monthly users in the third quarter of 2024, which is roughly a 26% increase from 53 million users in its previous quarter. On election night alone, the platform saw a peak of 1.8 million concurrent viewers, Fox Digital learned. 

The Rumble initiative comes as the White House’s social media engagement has increased under the Trump administration compared to President Biden’s tenure. 

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The Trump administration’s White House accounts on X and Instagram racked up 4,685,265 total engagements in the first two weeks, compared to the Biden administration’s 4,134,845 during its first two weeks, according to data provided to Fox Digital. The figures reflect a 13% increase in social media engagement in Trump’s first two weeks or a difference of 550,420 engagements.

President Donald Trump (Getty Images/File)

A White House official noted that when the Biden administration began in 2021, the White House account on X, which was at the time known as Twitter, began with a running start of 1.6 million followers. Under new X rules, however, the second Trump administration’s X account began with zero followers.

“Despite this 1.6M follower advantage, our engagement still surpassed theirs,” the White House said of the difference.

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Long before Trump jumped into politics ahead of the 2016 election, the real estate tycoon’s love of social media, specifically Twitter, had long been on display. Trump would frequently weigh in on pop culture, politics, the media and even Diet Coke on the social media platform ahead of taking office for his first administration. He remarked after his 2016 win that Twitter was crucial to speaking directly to voters.

The White House (AP Photo/Jon Elswick/File)

“Twitter is a wonderful thing for me, because I get the word out. … I might not be here talking to you right now as president if I didn’t have an honest way of getting the word out,” he said in 2017.

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In his second administration, the White House has further leaned into social media to reach voters, including launching a new social media account in January aimed to hold “fake news accountable.”  

(Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images/File)

“Welcome to the official Rapid Response account of the Trump 47 White House. We will be supporting President Donald J. Trump’s America First agenda and holding the Fake News accountable for their lies. Let’s Make America Great Again!” the X account, Rapid Response 47, posted in its first message on Jan. 27. 

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The account has since posted dozens of interview clips highlighting what the White House describes as false rhetoric about the administration from Democrat lawmakers, “misleading” articles promoted by mainstream outlets, and touting work the administration has accomplished.