White House walks back Trump's big Hollywood tariff announcement

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

Updated May 5, 2025, 1:00 p.m. ET


The White House appeared to walk back an announcement by President Donald Trump that he would slap 100% tariffs on foreign-produced films to boost Hollywood. A White House statement on May 5 said that "no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made" after Trump's declaration made waves in the entertainment industry.

Trump posted on social media May 4 that he was "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." The president said he was concerned incentives luring filmmakers overseas will send the American movie industry to "a very fast death."

Although Trump said his team was moving forward on the tariffs, White House spokesman Kush Desai seemed to walk that back in the May 5 statement, while also saying " the administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again."

The statement added more confusion to an announcement that already was drawing questions about how the tariffs would be implemented and what exactly they would apply to. It was unclear if the tariffs would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in theaters, or if they would be calculated based on production costs or box office revenue. The Motion Picture Association, which represents the major studios, had no comment.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/05/trump-announces-tariff-on-foreign-films/83452190007/

---

LOL I was wondering how one could figure this out. It's not like you have shiploads or planeloads of film canisters coming in. Many movies are filmed "on location" around the world and although some may still use actual film, much of the stuff is digital now (or at least converted to digital).

But see every time he does this, the media does a "butter emails" with a "ButBiden 'cognitive'" while completely ignoring the raving lunatic currently at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[Walleye]

1. This is funny because he really believes he should be part of the Hollywood crowd. He really wants to impress these peop

Now he’s just done more to show how stupid he is

[progressoid]

7. Yep.

A lot of this is because he was never accepted by the NY elite or Hollywood.

He's at the emotional level of a pre-teen.

[Walleye]

11. And a lot of his followers feel the same way because they never got a date to prom or something

This is resentment based politics. And we don’t even know what they hate us for really

[calimary]

22. THEY don't always know what they hate us for, really.

They see him badmouthing Hollywood and probably just assume that's the thing to do. I seriously doubt there's any actual thinking involved, here.

[Walleye]

25. That's a good point. I think if you asked them what they hate about us, they wouldn't be able to say.

[DENVERPOPS]

30. He wants to be a

Hollywood Star, A rock star with the YMCA boys, and the Pope.

He is so delusional already, he thinks he is already all three.......

[Walleye]

31. Yes, because when you're a star, they just let you do it

[Cha]

33. Remember when It said he was sending Jon Voight &

Sylvester Stallone to Check on what's going on in Hollywood?

That couldn't have made Patriots happy

[Walleye]

34. It's not that hard to figure out what's going on in Hollywood. Publicity is their business who knows what he is thinking

[Cha]

35. To me it says he wants to throw his Weight around

and act like a Big Shot and maybe put some Fear in Hollywood that mostly Hate his Slimy sickening Guts.

[Harker]

2. I doubt he watches movies...

aside from exploitation porn.

He doesn't buy anything from Walmart, either.

[dweller]

3. Someone needs to

Up the dose of Grampy Rapey’s bedtime tranq dart tonite …


✌🏻

[Marie Marie]

26. ...

[Walleye]

32. That's a good one, but I think it's the population that's going to need tranquilizer darts

[IbogaProject]

4. Lots of our movies are shot partially in other locations

Canada, UK, Ireland and for a century Morocco. Many many movies use Toronto for generic studio shots, even if some scenes are done in the states.

[Attilatheblond]

15. If he isn't the boss of a nation, he wants to punish it with tariffs.

Idiot spoiled brat doesn't have a clue about business and how nearly EVERYTHING has something to do with another country or 12. He can't/won't do 'connections' because he has the central nervous system of an invertebrate that only lives in the moment.

[Walleye]

27. He doesn't understand the cost of moving certain businesses and changing certain techniques

Things are all set up in one place, you can’t just pick up and move to another for free. I don’t think he ever had any sense of how to do business. He just managed to bully some people into doing things they didn’t want to do and that felt good to him.

[republianmushroom]

5. Whoops, the dude shot his mouth off

before engaging brain, again.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

38. Engaging what's left of his brain wouldn't help. . . . nt

[Aristus]

6. Once again, supporters of the "Tells It Like It Is" guy are saying "That's not what he meant!"

[calimary]

23. GOOD one, Aristus!

"Once again, supporters of the 'Tells It Like It Is' guy are saying 'That's not what he meant!'"

I may have to borrow it!

[Aristus]

24. It's not original with me, but even if it was, feel free!

[JoseBalow]

8. Now comes the part where he "doubles down"

to try to convince himself, and everyone else, that he was right and knew what he was doing all along.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. ...

(and then they all run around attempting to manufacture something that seems "plausible" (but won't be) that "fits his demands" )

[Walleye]

28. He will break things just to prove that things are broken

[stillcool]

36. like the sharpie with the hurricane projection

the amount of crazy we've seen is stunning.

[Eugene]

9. Hollywood and the US government have long fought against this kind of protectionism when other countries did it.

The US entertainment industry is a big exporter of content. Disrupting free trade can threaten overseas revenue.

[Prairie Gates]

10. Was Trump on drugs or having some episode last night? Between this and the Alcatraz nonsense

It was, as George W. Bush so eloquently put it of Trump's First Inaugural, "some weird shit."

[BumRushDaShow]

16. It felt like he was watching some "famous" movie

or it was referenced to him.

[calimary]

45. Handsome dude.

Just had to say that.

[underpants]

12. Jon Voight

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220293465

[Blue Owl]

17. Turns out it wasn't his LeBaron

[róisín_dubh]

46. ...

[Baitball Blogger]

14. I'm watching the Eternaut on Netflix.

A story of an apocalyptic event that could possibly annihilate the human race.

I find it calming, compared to the shit that can hatch out of the head of that crazy man in the Oval Office.

[RussBLib]

18. Make Hollywood Great Again

That wretched pustule could do this kind of shit with practically every industry, and I'm 100% of it would be bullshit.

This an intolerable situation.

[twodogsbarking]

19. Gof Course walks back Trump's big Hollywood tariff announcement.

They shouldn't say White House.

[C_U_L8R]

20. How would his stupid tariff even work?

Besides, international markets are where Hollywood makes its money.
This idiot Trump would effectively kill the industry.

Paging Mark Burnett, can you please explain things to your dimwitted orange pal?? Geez.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

21. Yay! He had a brain fart and got talked out of it. Canada sighs. . . . . nt

[rurallib]

29. My wife gets BritBox and she really likes it - so I suppose

the next load of crap will be a tariff on TV from other countries.

Hey how about books written overseas like the bible?

[Scalded Nun]

37. Every other country - 150% traiffs on US-made movies.

[SupportSanity]

39. To quote BRDS:

"raving lunatic currently at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave."

It all comes down to that one simple thing.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

40. Does this mean that trump is NOT going to bring back blockbusters?

Link to tweet

[BumRushDaShow]

42. Or

That's the chain I used.

People are actually selling the old cards and bags on eBay.





I remember buying my first VHS at one - the original "Star Wars" when it finally released on VHS in the '80s, and it cost something like $89.00.

I have purchased all kinds of versions of it since (some anniversary 3-film set with remastered Dolby Surround, then the laser disc set with Dolby Digital, then the DVDs, then a special DVD set)

[HipChick]

41. Performative Theater....is getting old..

[Bluetus]

43. This is heading for another "Don't you get it? Trump was just joking."

Just like Alcatraz. You libs have no sense of humor.

[Mawspam2]

44. Waiting for the Conclave remake where Pope Donald plays ALL the parts.