‘American patriots’: Trump names billionaires Murdoch, Dell for potential TikTok deal team; Ellison already in mix
US President Donald Trump on Sunday floated the names of several prominent billionaires — including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, his son and Fox Corp. chief Lachlan Murdoch, Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison — as potential participants in a deal for the United States to take control of TikTok’s operations in the country.“I think they’re going to be in the group. A couple of others. Really great people, very prominent people. And they’re also American patriots, you know, they love this country. I think they’re going to do a really good job,” Trump said in an interview recorded Friday and aired on Fox News.Ellison’s potential involvement was already known as on Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said his Oracle would oversee TikTok’s data and security in the US and confirmed Americans would control six of the seven seats on a planned board. Trump discussed the TikTok deal directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a lengthy phone call on Friday. Negotiators from both countries face a December 16 deadline to finalise terms, following the administration’s latest extension. TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has drawn scrutiny from US officials who warn its powerful algorithm could be manipulated by Chinese authorities to push content in subtle and hard-to-detect ways. Congress previously passed legislation calling for a TikTok ban starting in January, but Trump has repeatedly signed orders keeping the platform operational as his administration works toward a takeover arrangement.
