President Donald Trump on Sunday implied that Rupert Murdoch and his son, Lachlan, are tied to a pending agreement for U.S. control of TikTok.
Speaking on Fox News, Trump was asked about who was involved in the TikTok deal.
“Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. This great guy, Michael Dell, is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved. Do you know who Lachlan is? That’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch,” the president said.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s statement.
Murdoch and his son Lachlan lead News Corp. and Fox Corp. The Murdoch family media empire includes conservative-leaning news organizations like Fox News and The Wall Street Journal.
Trump’s remarks came just one day after remarks come one day after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt detailed more information about a potential deal.
“This deal means that TikTok will be majority-owned by Americans in the United States. There will be seven seats on the board that controls the app in the United States, and six of those seats will be Americans,” Leavitt told Fox News’ “Saturday in America.”
Murdoch officially took control of Fox Corp. and News Corp. this month, ending a years-long succession dispute with his siblings over leadership of the companies previously led by his father, Rupert Murdoch.
Trump also mentioned that Rupert Murdoch could be involved in the deal.
“Rupert is, is probably going to be in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group,” he said.
Ellison’s involvement in the TikTok deal was previously reported. The cloud computing company that he co-founded, Oracle, will manage the data and privacy aspects of TikTok.
“And they’re also American patriots, you know, they love this country, so I think they’re going to do a really good job,” Trump said.
