Jon Voight is speaking out about the tariff plan he said he presented to President Trump, saying the commander in chief is aiming to return Hollywood to a previous era through levies on international films.
“He wants us to be the Hollywood of old,” the “Midnight Cowboy” star said of Trump in an interview with Variety published Wednesday.
“This shouldn’t be political,” added Voight, 86.
“I don’t know the political identities of the people we’ve talked to. We’ve talked to a lot of people here. I don’t distinguish them on their party affiliation. And if we can come up with [a plan that can be executed], he’ll back us,” the Academy Award winner said.
Voight’s remarks came on the heels of Trump’s call on Sunday for a 100 percent tariff on foreign films.
“Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” Trump said on Truth Social, describing the issue as a “national security threat.”
Voight previously said that he and producer Steven Paul suggested the idea of tariffs on films made in other countries and presented it to Trump, before the president publicly floated the proposal this week.
While many in both Hollywood and Washington expressed skepticism and criticism of Trump’s tariff push, Voight told Variety he and Paul have “gotten a lot of good responses from people.”
Voight, one of the president’s most prominent supporters in the entertainment industry who was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Trump in 2019, said, “It’s come to a point where we really do need help, and thank God the president cares about Hollywood and movies.”
“He has a great love for Hollywood in that way. We’ve got to roll up our sleeves here. We can’t let it go down the drain like Detroit,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly described a desire to return the arts and film and TV business to its “golden age.”
In January, Trump announced he was naming Voight and actors Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone to serve as “special ambassadors” to Hollywood.
“These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he said at the time.
Trump also utilized the term after, in an unprecedented move, he named himself chair of the Kennedy Center’s board.
“I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” he said in February.
“THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
