On Sunday, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to announce the latest target of his tariffs.
Trump wrote:
"The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States."
" Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat."
"It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!"
"Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands."
"WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!"
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Speaking to reporters Sunday night after returning from another weekend spent in Florida on the taxpayers' dime, Trump said:
"Other nations have been stealing the movie-making capabilities from the United States. If they’re not willing to make a movie inside the United States we should have a tariff on movies that come in."
People are giving Trump’s latest proclamation all the seriousness it deserves.
@kellyscaletta/X
@n8ckkodsma/Bluesky
People who actually know about film production say Trump's latest tariff target makes no logical or logistical sense.
Entertainment consultant Kathryn Arnold told TIME:
"I know it’s not the U.S. government or the President’s job to understand how movies are made, but if you understand how complex and interconnected the global film market is—both on a production and a distribution level—it’s devastating and doesn’t make any sense."
Trump didn't provide any details. One thing industry insiders asked to have clarified is how movies shot on location around the world would be taxed and who would have to pay the tariff.
But instead of answers, Monday brought more waffling from the Trump administration which now says the tariffs aren't a definite thing until they speak to the film industry.
Maybe Trump should have started with that step.
