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Posted on 09/02/2026 5:59:30 PM PDT by Red Badger
President Trump has pulled off something Washington almost never sees: Hollywood studios, major entertainment unions and Adam Schiff are suddenly lining up behind the same America First jobs push.
After meeting with actor Jon Voight, Trump called on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to create a federal production incentive for movies and television shows made in the United States.
The goal is simple. Give producers a compelling financial reason to employ American crews, rent American soundstages and keep billions of dollars in production spending on American soil.
Trump described Hollywood as a “complete and total disaster” after years of productions migrating to Canada, Britain, Australia and other countries with aggressive national incentive programs. His answer is an immediate bipartisan bill aimed at bringing those jobs home.
The New York Post captured the president’s call for Congress to move:
Trump Puts The White House Behind A National Incentive
Reuters reported that Trump wants Congress to act quickly, with leaders from both parties expected to take part in meetings over the legislation. Voight has been working with a coalition that includes the Motion Picture Association, the Directors Guild of America and unions representing actors, writers and production workers.
A framework promoted by SP Media Group CEO Steven Paul and President Scott Karol would provide a 20 percent federal credit for qualifying labor costs on film and television productions made in the United States. Trump has endorsed the larger idea without locking himself into that percentage or a final legislative structure.
That distinction leaves Congress plenty to negotiate. Lawmakers still have to decide which expenses qualify, how large the credit should be, whether it can be combined with state incentives and what safeguards will keep the benefit tied to real American employment.
Trump’s public support changes the political equation. Industry groups have discussed a national incentive for years.
They now have a president telling Congress to turn the idea into law.
An Unlikely Bipartisan Alliance
The biggest surprise came from California Sen. Adam Schiff, one of Trump’s fiercest political opponents.
Schiff said he was in “strong agreement” with the president and urged Congress to pass a federal incentive to recover good-paying entertainment jobs lost to foreign competitors.
Here is Schiff’s response in his own words:
Axios noted that 38 states already operate production-credit programs. A federal incentive could sit on top of those state programs and help American locations compete with countries that offer producers a nationwide package.
The proposal also marks a practical shift from Trump’s earlier threat of tariffs on movies produced overseas. Film production crosses borders in ways that make tariffs difficult to design and enforce.
An incentive rewards companies for choosing American workers and locations at the beginning of a project. The competition is international.
Foreign governments have used that playbook for years. They offer predictable credits, producers lower their costs, and American soundstages, drivers, camera operators, set builders, costume workers and local vendors lose the business.
A national credit would give the United States a direct answer. The final impact will depend on the bill Congress writes, yet the competitive logic is easy to understand: make America the better place to create the product.
Fox News Politics highlighted the remarkable Trump-Schiff alignment:
Entertainment Workers Rally Behind The Plan
SAG-AFTRA welcomed Trump’s push in an official statement from union President Sean Astin and National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The union credited both Trump’s leadership and Voight’s advocacy while stressing that domestic production supports far more than famous actors.
Every movie or television project creates work for performers, crew members, drivers, carpenters, caterers, hotels and small businesses. When a production moves abroad, that entire chain of spending can leave with it.
The union also tied the issue to rapid changes in technology and artificial intelligence. Its leaders argued that keeping the United States at the center of film and television production will create opportunities for American workers as the industry evolves.
SAG-AFTRA’s endorsement gives Trump support from an organization that represents roughly 160,000 performers and media professionals. That is a powerful addition to a coalition already spanning studios, producers and organized labor.
IATSE went further, saying it is actively working with Voight, industry stakeholders and a bipartisan group of lawmakers to draft and pass federal incentive legislation. The union represents more than 170,000 technicians, artisans and craftspeople working in entertainment and live events.
IATSE has pushed for a labor-based federal incentive for years. Its model would supplement state programs while making American production more competitive against countries with large, permanent national subsidies.
The union’s support cuts through the usual Hollywood-versus-Trump narrative. Camera crews and set builders care whether the next project films in Los Angeles, Atlanta or London because the location determines who gets hired.
Congress now has the rarest commodity in politics: a coalition with a Republican president, Democratic lawmakers, studios and labor all pointing in the same direction.
An America First Case Congress Can Understand
The strongest argument for the proposal has little to do with rescuing celebrity culture. It is about reclaiming an American industry and the middle-class jobs surrounding it.
Trump believes the additional economic activity would more than repay the cost of the incentive through payrolls, local spending and tax revenue. Congress will have to test that claim and design the credit carefully.
There is no final bill yet. No percentage has been enacted, and no company can claim a new federal credit today.
Still, the direction is unmistakable. President Trump has taken a long-running industry request, recast it as an America First jobs mission and built a coalition broad enough to give it a genuine chance.
If Washington can agree on saving American production jobs, it ought to move while the cameras are still rolling.
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Why would POTUS Trump want to reinvigorate an industry that has tried its best to destroy America from within? The typical hollywood film is as anti-American and anti-Christian as it can be.
This does not make sense. Why help the communists?
Proverbs 25:
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
22 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you.
With AI and CGI it seems they will need fewer workers over time. It certainly registers a dont care with most voters as far as hollywood jobs are concerned.
Nolan just did the odyssey with about 1 minute of CGI
But you did fulfill the entry criteria of whining about Trump.
Movie making’s an American Industry. Trump wants all American industry to be great again. I think it’s as simple as that.
I think it’s nearly a moot point.
In the next few years movies will become AI generated.
People won’t go, won’t stream or won’t buy the DVDs...........
Scroo the Unions. Why does he live Unions so much? “Union” is just another word for “mob”.
Trump needs to stay the hell out of the “save Hollywood” issue. WTF anyhow? Doesn’t he remember “The Snake”? No matter what he does to help, they’ll bite him in the ass eventually.
If Hollywood is dying, just be ready to bury it in the end. Let free markets work.
“years of productions migrating to Canada, Britain, Australia and other countries”
We’ve discovered movies made in those countries, as well as Eastern Europe, have fewer anti-American messages and much less sexual perversion.
I think the reason movie making has shifted from Hollywood is because it is corrupted by communists and perverts. Why would we want to revive this? Will Trump get any extra votes for Republicans if he’s successful in this effort? Will Hollywood America haters back off if they get more work? Will people like Jane Fonda suddenly repent? We all know the answers to these questions is NO.
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