President Trump called on Congress to immediately approve a federal production incentive for film and television, backing a bipartisan effort to bring runaway Hollywood production back to America.
President Donald Trump on Monday called on Congress to move immediately on a federal production incentive for the film and television industry, throwing the full weight of the White House behind a bipartisan push to bring entertainment jobs back to American soil.
In a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump urged Republicans and Democrats to come together on legislation that would create a Federal Production Incentive, arguing that runaway production has gutted an industry that once defined American culture.
Trump's push followed a meeting with Jon Voight, the actor he appointed as one of his special ambassadors to Hollywood alongside Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone. Voight has spent months lobbying the administration for a national production credit as studios increasingly shoot movies and television shows overseas.
"I just had a GREAT and very interesting meeting with my Hollywood Ambassador and Movie Legend, Jon Voight!" Trump wrote. "He hates what's happened to it! It is being dissipated in its entirety. It has moved to Canada, and other Countries, with very little work being done anymore in the United States."
Trump minced no words about the state of the industry. "Hollywood is a Complete and Total Disaster! Despite the name, it is getting very little work. There is no incentive to be there, and it is hurting California very badly," he said.
The president's endorsement gives a major boost to an idea championed by an unlikely political alliance. Voight, a longtime conservative, has found common cause with Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff, one of Trump's fiercest political adversaries, who has been pushing his own version of a national production incentive since last year.
Schiff held a Senate hearing on runaway production in March and previously circulated a proposal offering a 15% federal credit for qualifying labor expenses on productions made in the United States. Industry insiders, including producer Steven Paul and SP Media Group President Scott Karol, have floated a 20% labor credit as the benchmark for a meaningful national incentive.
Trump said meetings are being set up with leaders of both parties to get the measure done. "It should be Bipartisan, especially since so much money is being lost in California, and other largely Blue States," he wrote.
The economic argument behind the incentive is straightforward: film and television production is one of the highest-value manufacturing sectors in the world, and the United States is currently losing that business to Canada, the United Kingdom, and other countries offering aggressive tax breaks.
Trump predicted the incentive would pay for itself many times over. "The amount of money spent on Tax Incentives will be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury's coffers," he wrote.
"What we watch on the Silver Screen should be made in what was once the Movie and Motion Picture Capital of the World. Let's get this done!" he added.
The Motion Picture Association quickly welcomed the president's endorsement. CEO Charles Rivkin said a federal incentive would be "a landmark step toward bringing more production to local communities in all 50 states, strengthening our nation's economy, and making our country a more competitive place to produce, create, and tell great stories."
The endorsement builds on a comprehensive plan Voight and Steven Paul submitted to Trump in May 2025, which included federal tax incentives, changes to tax codes, co-production treaties with foreign countries, and infrastructure subsidies for theaters and production companies. The White House has been reviewing the proposal since.
With the president publicly demanding action, the ball now moves to Capitol Hill. Voight's representatives were still fielding requests for comment Monday evening, and the White House has signaled that meetings with leaders from both parties are already being arranged.
For an industry that has watched production flee to foreign soundstages for decades, the prospect of a genuine federal incentive is the biggest policy shift in a generation. If Congress delivers, the jobs that left Hollywood could be coming home.
President Trump called on Congress to immediately approve a federal production incentive for film and television, backing a bipartisan effort to bring runaway Hollywood production back to America.
freedomlinedispatch.com
