Say what you want about US President Donald Trump but has a truly unique way with words.
On Sunday in the US, Trump told Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing of some new figures involved in the consortium to buy TikTok from the Chinese.
“I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved. Lachlan is, that’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch,” Trump said. “And Rupert is probably going to be in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group.”
“A couple of others. Really great people, very prominent people,” Trump said. “And they’re also American patriots, you know, they love this country. I think they’re going to do a really good job.”
Trump also said Michael Dell, eponymous founder and CEO of the US computer giant is set to be involved too.
According to a report in The Australian, which is owned by the Murdoch’s News Corp, Rupert Murdoch privately told executives working on the deal for TikTok that he wanted to own a small stake in the company if an agreement could be reached, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The source noted that such an investment may not be among the bigger holdings in the new entity.
Another person, again noted in The Aus, said that if there is an investment in TikTok, that investment would take place at Fox Corp.
Don’t forget, though, that Rupert Murdoch is a named defendant in a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump against Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones and parent company News Corp. The WSJ published an article in July about a letter with Trump’s signature that was included in a 2003 birthday album for Jeffrey Epstein. Trump denied writing the letter. A Dow Jones spokeswoman has said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The President also said that Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, was involved, though his involvement was already known.
On Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Oracle would be responsible for the app’s data and security and that Americans will control six of the seven seats for a planned board.
So what’s the actual status of the long-running TikTok deal? Don’t forget, this saga stretches back into Trump’s first term as US President.
In January of this year, a ban was passed on the app after TikTok parent company Bytedance refused to sell the app. This ban has yet to be enforced and has been delayed several times by Trump.
The President said that he had a “very productive” call with Chia’s President Xi on a variety of issues over the weekend, including the TikTok deal.
Bytedance posted this in response, “We thank President Xi Jinping and President Donald J. Trump for their efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States. ByteDance will work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users through TikTok US.”
Last week, the Trump administration announced that a “framework” agreement had been reached before extending the January sale deadline for a fourth time to 16 December.
