President Trump just dropped names on the TikTok rescue operation, confirming media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are "probably" joining the investor group buying the app from ByteDance. The revelation came during a Fox News interview Sunday, adding heavyweight media players to a deal that's reshaping social media ownership in America.
The TikTok rescue just got its biggest media endorsement yet. President Trump confirmed Sunday that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are "probably gonna be in the group" buying TikTok's U.S. operations, delivering the kind of star power that could finally close this months-long saga.
"A man named Lachlan is involved," Trump told Fox News during his weekend interview blitz. "Lachlan Murdoch... Rupert [Murdoch] is probably gonna be in the group, I think they're going to be in the group."
The timing wasn't coincidental. Hours after Trump's comments, Deadline confirmed that Fox Corp - the media empire run by CEO Lachlan Murdoch and chaired by his father Rupert - is actively negotiating to join the investor consortium. It's a move that brings serious media industry credibility to what's become the most watched tech deal in Washington.
Trump also name-dropped Oracle's Larry Ellison and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell as likely participants, painting a picture of Silicon Valley's biggest names rallying around the short-form video platform that nearly went dark in January.
The deal's structure is taking shape rapidly. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Saturday that Americans will control six of seven board seats in the restructured TikTok, with the app's algorithm moving under U.S. control. "All of those details have already been agreed upon, now we just need this deal to be signed," Leavitt said during her own Fox News appearance.
Bloomberg reports the investor group includes Oracle (handling security and safety), Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management, with ByteDance retaining less than 20% ownership. It's a dramatic reversal for the Chinese company that built TikTok into America's most addictive app.
This weekend's developments cap off a regulatory rollercoaster that began with last year's federal legislation mandating TikTok's sale or ban. The app briefly went dark in January before Trump's inauguration, then flickered back to life as the new administration promised extensions. Trump's repeated deadline pushes bought negotiators crucial time to assemble this all-star investor lineup.
