Just a few hours after the California governor requested cooperation on a huge film tax credit, President Trump blasted Gavin Newsom on Tuesday.
“California built the film industry — and we’re ready to bring even more jobs home. We’ve proven what strong state incentives can do,” Newsom wrote on X. “Now it’s time for a real federal partnership to Make America Film Again.”
He made the request in response to the president’s announcement over the weekend that all films made outside of the United States would be subject to 100% tariffs. Mr. Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that the country’s film industry was “DYING a very fast death.”
The COVID outbreak in 2020 and the Hollywood strikes in 2023 were two of the most significant recent setbacks to the film industry. Since production fell 22% from 2024 levels in the first quarter of 2025, it has not been able to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
Newsom and Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, suggested last year raising California’s yearly film tax credit from $330 million to $750 million.
In an Oval Office meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and others to announce that the 2027 NFL draft would take place in Washington, Mr. Trump discussed Newsom and a host of other issues when questioned by reporters.
Mr. Trump claimed that the “grossly incompetent” Newsom and other nations had “decimated” the American film sector, leading the industry to “abandon” the United States. He did, however, promise that “we’ll get it back.” He claimed that in order to “make sure they’re happy with” the potential levies, he will be meeting with some CEOs in the film industry.
The California High-Speed Rail project, which would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, was mentioned by the president.
“A little train going from San Francisco to Los Angeles that’s being run by Gavin Newscum, the governor of California. Ever heard of Gavin Newscum?” Mr. Trump stated. “That train is the worst cost overrun thing I’ve ever seen. … It’s hundreds of billions for a stupid project that should’ve never been built.”
In the middle of his tirade, Mr. Trump did say a few succinct but encouraging words for Newsom.
“And Gavin, you know, I always like Gavin, had a good relationship with him,” he continued.
He also mentioned the wildfires in January, saying he provided California with water.
“I just got him a lot of water. I sent in people to open up that water, because he refused to do it,” Mr. Trump stated. “If they would have had that water and if they would have done what I said to do, they wouldn’t have had the fires in Los Angeles, those fires would have been put out very quickly,”
Weeks after two enormous fires decimated opposing sections of Los Angeles County, the president travelled to Los Angeles in late January.
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“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating is until you see it,” Mr. Trump stated. “I mean, I saw a lot of bad things on television, but the extent of it, the side of it, we flew over it in a helicopter. We flew to a few of the areas, and it is devastation.”
Mr. Trump’s remarks concluded with a challenge to the governor of the Golden State.
“I’d love him to run for president on the other side. I’d love to see that, but I don’t think he’s going to be running because that one project alone, well, that and the fires and a lot of other things pretty much put him out of the race,” he stated.
