The president’s first priority during the historic aviation disruption seemed to be saving Hollywood.
Puce Somodevilla/Getty Images
With America’s air system at a standstill, President Donald Trump had Hollywood on his mind.
About two hours after the nationwide flight chaos began, Trump, 80, posted a lengthy post on his Truth Social account about tax breaks intended to revitalize Hollywood.
The oddly timed message, which began with a litany of lawmakers’ names, spanned nearly 300 words and focused on the return of film and television production to California.
“Hollywood, and many other places, have been virtually ‘gutted’ by tax incentives and more from other countries. Everyone is committed to the film and television industry – and so am I, and we all want to save it. It was MADE IN AMERICA and must STAY IN AMERICA,” Trump wrote.
Trump then lamented the loss of entertainment industry jobs to foreign competitors, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, which Trump said lure productions with tax breaks and other incentives.
Trump posts on Truth Social about Hollywood tax incentives amid flight chaos.
Social truth/Donald Trump
“This is a very bipartisan undertaking, especially since so much of the money lost to other countries comes from blue states. Let’s hope Republicans and Democrats come together and finalize this already very actively negotiated legislation. It can be done quickly, accurately, efficiently and, most importantly, will benefit all of America,” Trump wrote, before closing the post with a riff on his favorite slogan.
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“LET’S MAKE OUR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY GREAT AGAIN!” » he declared.
The message was a poorly timed call to action for H.R. 10582, known as the Motion Picture, Television and Entertainment Revitalization Act.
Old Hollywood: Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, just like Melania holds their son Barron about two decades ago.
The bill was first introduced in the House by Texas Rep. Nathaniel Moran in September. It has 63 cosponsors from both parties and would provide tax incentives for film and television production.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it was not clear why the president chose Friday night, amid nationwide air chaos on a scale not seen since 9/11, to throw his support behind the bill.
Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, the FAA announced a nationwide shutdown for departing flights, without providing details on the cause.
On CNN, experts speculated that a problem involving a new FAA system upgrade — “SMART,” a cloud-based, AI-powered air traffic management platform scheduled to go live Friday — could be the cause.
The ground shutdown was to remain in effect until 11 p.m., meaning no flights could take off, but those already in the air could land. The FAA lifted ground control shortly after 8:15 p.m., more than four hours after it began.
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