US President Donald Trump stated on Sunday that media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan Murdoch could be among the investors set to take control of TikTok’s operations in the United States.

The United States has been actively seeking to transfer TikTok’s US operations away from its Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing national security concerns.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of a potential ban while negotiations for a sale have been underway.

He has been working with Beijing to sell the platform’s US arm to a consortium of investors he describes as “patriots”, which already includes Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and entrepreneur Michael Dell.

On Sunday, he added more names to that growing list.

“I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved… Lachlan Murdoch, I believe,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.
“And Rupert is, is probably going to be in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group. Couple of others, really great people, very prominent people.”

Earlier this month, Rupert Murdoch’s children reached a settlement in a long-running legal dispute over control of the media empire, solidifying Lachlan Murdoch’s leadership.

Lachlan Murdoch officially assumed control of Fox News and News Corp as part of the deal. He is the eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, who built a conservative media empire spanning the United States, Britain, and Australia.

On Saturday, the White House stated that the board of the new company, which would oversee TikTok’s US operations, would be dominated by American citizens, and suggested that a deal could be signed “in the coming days.”

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