As flights across the U.S. came to a halt Friday amid a rare nationwide ground stopPresident Donald Trump was in a meeting with actor Jon Voight to talk about jumpstarting support for a federal film incentive.
Voight and his team, Steven Paul and Scott Karol, were at the White House to urge the president to push for the film incentive during the lame duck session of Congress.
“It was exciting to watch,” Karol told Varietysaying the president was getting updates on the flight situation and also the capsized boat in New Orleans. “He’s concerned with different things because he’s the president. He gave us attention while taking care of two emergencies.”
Voight made an impassioned speech in support of the Hollywood tax incentive bill, which would provide a 20%-30% rebate on domestic labor costs for films and TV shows.
“He was telling (Trump) he has a helpful heart and he feels this can get done,” Paul said. Voight “was great. He was crying by the end of the meeting. It was an Academy Award-winning speech.”
While Voight was still in the room, the president sent out a Truth Social post reaffirming his support for the federal incentive and urging Congress to pass it.
“Meetings are being set up, routinely, with the Leaders of both Parties in order to, GET THIS DONE!” Trump wrote. “It is a very Bipartisan undertaking, especially in that so much of the money being lost to other countries is coming out of the Blue States. Hopefully Republicans and Democrats will get together and finalize this already very actively negotiated Legislation.”
He also noted that he was working with Sen. Adam Schiff — “believe it or not.” Karol said the team had met with Schiff earlier in the day, and Schiff told them to tell Trump: “This is Tim Scott’s bill and I’m there to help.”
Schiff responded to Trump’s post on X, saying that the bill should not wait until the Democrats take over in January.
“President Trump and I agree: it’s time for Congress to pass a federal film incentive,” Schiff wrote.
Rep. Laura Friedman, a Democratic co-author, also responded, saying “there’s no excuse to wait.”
“A national film and TV incentive means jobs in California, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and every state across the country,” she wrote. “Let’s get it done.”
Karol said that the challenge is finding a legislative vehicle, in which to include the incentive bill. He said that momentum has not slowed since the Republicans’ defeat in last week’s midterm elections.
“There’s good energy on both sides,” he said. “There’s no indication from either side of the aisle that this is something that is not as important as it was before the election.”
Earlier on Friday, Politico published an article saying “Hollywood’s tax credit push runs into a post-midterm wall.” The story quoted Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., as saying chances were “pretty low” of passing any tax bill during the lame duck session.
Supporters of the incentive hope that Trump’s post will encourage lawmakers to make it a priority. Voight has served as Trump’s ambassador to Hollywood, and has met with the president several times to encourage him to back the tax credit. Those meetings paid off in August, when the president first endorsed the measure, leading to the introduction of the bill on a bipartisan basis in September.
Trump’s comment on the film incentive preceded any public statement on the nationwide ground stop. Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of Homeland Security, did address the public after the ground stop was called, telling the nation, “This isn’t another 9/11. This is a telecommunication outage.”
Read Trump’s Truth Social post below:
“I am working with Senator Tim Scott and, believe it or not, Senator Adam Schiff, and, additionally, Senators John Cornyn, Raphael Warnock, Steve Daines, Bernie Moreno, Tim Sheehy, Alex Padilla, Mark Warner, Thom Tillis, Chris Coons, Katie Britt, and Dick Durbin, together with Representatives Jason Smith, Nathaniel Moran, Brian Jack, Linda Sanchez, and many others, both Republican and Democrat, on the Motion Picture, Television, and Entertainment Revitalization Act. The support and popularity of doing this, and bringing Entertainment back to the United States of America, has been unbelievable! Hollywood, and so many other places, have been virtually ’emptied out’ by the Tax Incentives, and much more, given by other Countries. Everyone feels strongly about the Motion Picture and Television Industry — and so do I, and we all want to save it. It was MADE IN AMERICA, and must STAY IN AMERICA. The Entertainment Industry has largely moved to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries, but the actors, producers, and all others involved want to come back home! Importantly, hundreds of thousands of Blue Collar Workers will be positively affected, BIG TIME, by the passage of this Bill. The amount of money spent on these Tax Incentives will be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury’s coffers. Meetings are being set up, routinely, with the Leaders of both Parties in order to, GET THIS DONE! It is a very Bipartisan undertaking, especially in that so much of the money being lost to other countries is coming out of the Blue States. Hopefully Republicans and Democrats will get together and finalize this already very actively negotiated Legislation. It can be done quickly, accurately, efficiently and, importantly, will benefit all of America. MAKE OUR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Updated with remarks from Karol and Paul.
Source: variety.com
