Donald Trump signed an executive order today to begin the process of creating a sovereign wealth fund, a move that he said may be used to help set up a purchase of TikTok.
With Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison in the Oval Office, Trump said that “we’re going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, perhaps not. If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise we won’t.”
He said, “I think it’s about time that this country had a sovereign wealth fund.” He said that his treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and Howard Lutnick, his nominee to lead the Commerce Department, would head up the fund.
Last year, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation to try to force China-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations, or face a ban on app stores and other platforms. The Supreme Court upheld the law, supporting the U.S. government’s argument that there were serious national security concerns with the potential for the Chinese government to access user data.
Rupert Murdoch was in the Oval Office on Monday as Donald Trump talked to the press.
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
But on his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order delaying implementation of the law for 45 days. He has said that he wanted to explore a joint venture that would involve U.S. ownership.
Sitting behind the Resolute Desk, Trump fielded numerous questions from reporters. He also noted the presence of Murdoch and Ellison, saying that their presence was unrelated to the EO signings. He said that Murdoch was “in a class by himself. He’s an amazing guy.” He also said that Ellison is “one of the most serious players anywhere in the world.”
“This has nothing to do with you people, but they’re here, and I thought it would be appropriate,” Trump said.
