By Srijita Chakraborty
United States President Donald Trump has said Fox Corp. chief executive Lachlan Murdoch will be part of a group of American investors seeking to acquire TikTok’s US operations from Chinese parent company ByteDance.
Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Briefing, Trump described the group as “prominent people” and “American patriots”, praising their ability to manage the app, which has nearly 170 million US users. The president added that TikTok had helped him connect with young voters during the 2024 campaign.
The proposed consortium reportedly includes Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, and potentially Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan’s 94-year-old father, who has long supported right-wing causes but has a complicated relationship with Trump. Trump is currently suing Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over a report linking him to Jeffrey Epstein.
The move comes under a law passed during former President Joe Biden’s administration requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok due to national security concerns. Although major concerns regarding user data access through the platform by Beijing have been expressed by both parties.
Apart from security concerns, TikTok has also drawn political scrutiny for fuelling youth support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel, sparking calls from pro-Israel lawmakers to ban the app. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the platform as biased against Israel.
Trump previously attempted to ban TikTok in 2020 but reversed his stance during his 2024 re-election bid, instead pledging to “save” it. Current negotiations remain tied to broader US-China trade relations.