President Trump slammed Gavin Newsom on Tuesday simply hours after the California governor requested for collaboration on an enormous movie tax credit score.
“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’s submit on X stated. “Now it’s time for a real federal partnership to Make America Film Again.”
His request got here after the president introduced over the weekend that he would impose 100% tariffs on all movies produced outdoors the U.S. In a submit on Reality Social, Mr. Trump stated the nation’s film trade was “DYING a very fast death.”
The movie trade has taken a number of hits in recent times, notably the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the Hollywood strikes in 2023. Manufacturing has did not return to pre-pandemic ranges since experiencing a 22% drop within the first quarter of 2025 from 2024 ranges.
Final 12 months, Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass proposed a rise in California’s annual movie tax credit score from $330 million to $750 million.
MANDEL NGAN / AFP by way of Getty Photographs
Mr. Trump spoke about Newsom and plenty of different subjects when questioned by reporters throughout an Oval Workplace assembly with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and others to announce that the NFL draft could be held in Washington in 2027.
Mr. Trump stated the American movie trade has been “decimated” by different international locations and the “grossly incompetent” Newsom, which he stated prompted the movie trade to “abandon” the U.S. However he vowed that “we’ll get it back.” He stated he’ll be assembly with some movie trade executives to “make sure they’re happy with” the possible tariffs.
The president referred to the California Excessive-Velocity Rail venture, which might run between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“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.”
Mr. Trump did have some transient however form phrases for Newsom within the midst of his barrage.
“And Gavin, you know, I always like Gavin, had a good relationship with him,” he stated.
He additionally touched on the January wild fires, claiming that he gave water to California.
“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,”
The president visited Los Angeles in late-January, weeks after two huge fires devastated reverse ends of Los Angeles County.
“I don’t think you can realize how rough it is, how devastating is until you see it,” Mr. Trump stated on the time. “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 feedback ended with a problem for the Golden State’s governor.
“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.
