Donald Trump spent a chunk of his Monday courting the controversial YouTuber Adin Ross at Mar-a-Lago—at one point busting out his signature hand-pumping dance move during a live stream.
Cameras followed Trump and Ross, 23, around the former president’s Florida estate. There, Trump declared to viewers that he was going to “keep TikTok going” and smiled as he was gifted a pricey Rolex and a Tesla Cybertruck with a full MAGA vinyl wrap.
The dizzying afternoon also saw Ross introduce some of his gaming friends to Trump. Those included the Canadian streamer xQc, who wore a T-shirt featuring Trump smiling with grills on his teeth.
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In another scene, while sitting in a Cybertruck and listening to music with Ross, Trump shared his pleasure with Elon Musk to the live stream.
“Elon, you’re great,” he said. “I don’t know if you’re seeing this, but you’re really good.”
Trump’s campaign has leaned hard into courting Gen Z conservatives in recent months, which included J.D. Vance making an appearance on a podcast with the Nelk Boys—a group of Canadian streamers who’ve become popular among American frats—last week. It was in that appearance where Vance infamously admitted that he told his son to “shut the hell up for 30 seconds about Pikachu” as he learned he’d been picked as Trump’s vice presidential running mate.
Trump himself has also recently appeared on a stream with professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, 30, and went on a stream with YouTuber Logan Paul, 29, to talk about combat sports.
Ross is among the most prominent Gen Z conservatives. He boasts 2.5 million followers on X, just under a million on YouTube, and 1.34 million on Kick, where Monday’s visit to Mar-a-Lago was streamed.
Equally controversial as he is popular, Ross first gained his fame on Twitch for playing NBA 2K online with Bronny James. He has since been permanently banned from the platform, reportedly to Ross’ repeated use of slurs on his channel.
Ross has also raised eyebrows on Kick, where he once infamously streamed pornography during a live stream despite being known for having an audience that includes underage teenagers.
New York Magazine reported that as many as 450,000 people tuned in to Ross and Trump’s stream on Monday, with the ex-president at one point speaking telling viewers to get out and vote Republican.
It’s unclear if Trump actually plans to keep his gifted Cybertruck or Rolex watch. Multiple people, including The Washington Post reporter Will Sommer, pointed out that both items are well over the $3,300 FEC contribution limit.
