Meet one of Indonesia's most unlikely YouTube celebrities: The president

2025-04-27 05:08:15admin

He's got more than 100,000 subscribers, livestreams events, and even vlogs about what he eats.

We're talking about Indonesia's president -- Joko Widodo.

SEE ALSO: Saudi Arabia's king is bringing a massive 1,500-person entourage to Indonesia for a visit

Affectionately known as Jokowi, the president has amassed thousands of fans, and even has his own hashtag, #JKWVLOG.

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Widodo's latest YouTube video, which features him having a meal with Saudi Arabia's King Salman who is currently in Indonesia on a visit, has already racked up almost 600,000 views in less than 18 hours.

The vlog, entitled "Banquet with King Salman", sees both leaders eating lunch at the Presidential Palace.

"Currently I'm having lunch with King Salman. He is eating," says Widodo, before turning the camera over to King Salman.

"I am very happy today to be in Indonesia and happy with the Indonesian people," says the king through a translator.

The video is Widodo's most viewed so far.

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His previous YouTube videos include everything from him attempting a game of archery, to eating street food with his ministers.

Widodo has even recently been awarded the YouTube Silver Button channel -- and by recent we mean it's still on his way to him -- for gaining over 100,000 subscribers.

Ooooh a shiny thing Credit:

"The President sees himself as somewhat of a YouTuber," said a YouTube spokesperson.

"What's interesting about Jokowi's channel is how he experiments. He has tried different styles of videos, from a 360 degree video to a vlog on eating meatballs during his work trip. Everytime he experiments, his subs go up."

Widodo was first introduced to vlogging through his son, Kaesang, who is 22 and a YouTube vlogger himself.

Some of Kaesang's videos feature Widodo, including this one where the father-son duo are seen in an arm wrestle showdown.

The video has been viewed over 2 million times.

And it's not only YouTube that the president is proficient in.

He's no stranger to Instagram, where he's amassed almost 3 million followers.

To put that into context, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has 986,000 followers on Instagram.

Point made.

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