Trump claims Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch will help buy Tiktok in the US
Donald Trump on Sunday Briefing (Fox News)
Media moguls Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch are part of a consortium of investors who could buy Tiktok in the US, according to US President Donald Trump.
Trump also claimed the founder of Dell, Michael Dell, is involved in the deal, as is Oracle founder and one of the world’s richest people, Larry Ellison.
Trump made the suggestion while speaking to Peter Doocy on the Sunday Briefing program on Fox News.
“A man named Lachlan is involved. You know who Lachlan is? That’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch,” he said. “Rupert is probably gonna be in the group, I think they’re gonna be in the group, a couple of others. Really great people. Very prominent people. And they’re also American patriots, they love this country, so I think they’re gonna do a really good job.”
The New York Times reported the Murdochs’ investment would come via Fox Corporation, which owns and operates Fox News in the US.
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Trump’s as-yet-unsubstantiated claims come as the deadline for the deal continues to shift.
The previous Biden administration enacted the laws which would force Tiktok’s Chinese owner Bytedance to divest from the company. New investors would need to join to dilute Chinese ownership of the US operation to less than 20% in order to satisfy the new law.
Trump has pushed back the deadline on multiple occasions, and recently spoke to Chinese leader President Xi Jinping about the deal.
“I had a great call with President Xi, and as you know, he approved the Tiktok deal and we’re in the process with some great investors, some of the biggest in the world, American investors, great people, and we look forward to getting that deal closed,” he said in an earlier press conference.
Tiktok in the US has more than 170 million users.
Trump’s claims on Sunday’s program add to what has already been a milestone month for the Murdochs.
Earlier in September, it was revealed Lachlan Murdoch would inherit the News Corp and Fox Corporation empires from his father Rupert, after a protracted legal battle against three of the other Murdoch siblings.
Trump too has been in the headlines, largely for waging war against various media outlets, journalists and TV programs.
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