Trump floats Murdoch, Dell in TikTok deal as talks with China continue
President says Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and Michael Dell could join a group negotiating U.S. control of TikTok; Oracle’s role acknowledged.
President Donald Trump said that a group of American billionaires could participate in a deal that would allow the United States to take control of TikTok, the video app owned by ByteDance.
In a weekend interview recorded Friday and aired Sunday on Fox News, Trump named Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch as part of the negotiating group, describing them as 'very prominent people' and 'American patriots' who would 'do a really good job.' He said Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison also could participate.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Oracle would be responsible for the app's data and security, and that Americans would control six of the seven seats on a planned board. The disclosures did not come with a full accounting of how the U.S.-backed entity would operate, but officials framed the arrangement as a way to preserve TikTok's availability in the United States while addressing national security concerns.
The Trump administration has long tied the TikTok talks to broader questions about data security and Chinese influence, and the president said discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping occurred during a lengthy Friday phone call. U.S. and Chinese officials have until Dec. 16 to hash out terms after the latest deadline extension, while talks continue amid competing political priorities in Washington.
TikTok is widely used in the United States, but officials have warned that the app's algorithm could be leveraged by Beijing to shape content in ways that are difficult to detect. Congress has signaled a willingness to ban TikTok in January, though Trump has repeatedly signed orders that allow the app to remain operational as the two sides bargain.
Trump's lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, filed in July, stemmed from a report about the president's ties to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, illustrating the crosscurrents between media and politics that have colored the TikTok talks.
Representatives for Ellison, Dell, and the Murdochs could not immediately be reached for comment. As the negotiations unfold, officials cautioned that few terms are public and that the process remains fluid, with no guarantee that a deal will be reached on the terms publicly described.
The case represents a fusion of technology policy, national security, and partisan politics, highlighting how U.S. leadership hopes to preserve access to popular digital platforms while seeking to curb potential security risks tied to foreign ownership and control.