The Trump show comes for Hollywood and Alcatraz

President Trump surprised California with a pair of announcements over the weekend to impose tariffs on films produced abroad and to reopen Alcatraz, a San Francisco landmark, as a working prison, all without consultation with state officials.

The White House would not offer details on either plan, perplexing industry executives and local lawmakers who see both as highly impractical, and prompting a series of basic questions that administration officials pressed by The Times were unprepared to answer.

How does Trump’s team plan to collect import duties on a product that amounts to intellectual property? Does the president’s team understand that most Hollywood productions are at least partially filmed overseas? And why is the federal government going to shut down a national historic landmark, reconverting it into a prison in the heart of a city after closing it 60 years ago due to skyrocketing costs?

Yet Trump’s focus on Hollywood, in particular, has gained him praise for drawing national attention to a growing crisis for Los Angeles, which is losing its prized industry at a concerning speed. Film executives aren’t asking whether the president’s intentions are in the right place. They are asking whether his solutions make any sense — or might backfire.

Trump’s move to protect ‘America’s cultural dominance’

Trump’s announcement on film tariffs came after one of his three named ambassadors to Hollywood, Jon Voight, flew to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over the weekend to present ideas on how to reverse an exodus of production from Los Angeles — a list that proposed tariffs in only “certain limited circumstances,” according to a statement from Voight’s manager.

A White House official told The Times that “while President Trump regularly corresponds with his Hollywood ambassadors, including Jon Voight, to restore America’s cultural dominance, it was President Trump himself who formulated the idea of using tariffs to Make Hollywood Great Again.”

But the White House could not provide additional details on the plan, which could ultimately hurt the very production companies that Trump and Voight seek to protect.

Actor Jon Voight, shown at President Trump’s Jan. 19 victory rally in Washington, visited the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida over the weekend.

(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Hollywood is facing a real crisis over its historic entertainment industry, with production work moving not only overseas but also to competing domestic hubs. Hollywood executives and California leadership, including its Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, have welcomed presidential attention to the matter, extending offers to collaborate on a solution.

“California built the film industry — and we’re ready to bring even more jobs home,” Newsom wrote on social media this week, proposing a federal tax credit for Hollywood filmmakers to the White House and telling Trump, “Let’s get it done.”

But a Times investigation last month found that Voight and Trump’s other two ambassadors, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, had barely engaged with industry stakeholders on a working plan before the president made his plans public. The White House has also been limited in its outreach. At least one of the special Hollywood envoys learned of their appointment by tweet, sources said.

Another front in California’s tariff battle

Trump said the film tariffs would be implemented to combat foreign nations attempting to siphon industry dollars from the United States, a practice he characterized as a “national security threat.” But the announcement comes as California is leading a lawsuit against the U.S. administration over the legality of Trump’s use of tariffs in the first place — particularly its national security rationale.

“The president of the United States simply does not have the legal authority, under the Emergency Economic Powers Act, to impose tariffs. Period, full stop,” Newsom said last week.

Even if Trump were to proceed with the plan, his team probably would have to come up with another legal vehicle: A 1988 amendment to the Emergency Economic Powers Act explicitly exempts films, publications and artwork, among other items, from foreign duties.

Meanwhile, all other tariffs currently in place against foreign nations — particularly against China — are beginning to affect American families, including those in California.

Furniture and fast fashion retailers have begun urging customers to make purchases now before imminent increases take effect, raising prices 30% or more.

And prices increased overnight for parents of young children this week. A Barbie doll from Mattel that had cost under $10 last month is now $15 and expected to increase further in price, while the signature stroller from UPPAbaby, listed at $899 on Sunday, cost $1,199 as of Monday.

“All costs are down,” Trump said aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening. “Everything is down, other than the thing you carry the babies around in.”

‘Law and order’ at Alcatraz

Trump’s announcement on Alcatraz came just hours after the 1979 Clint Eastwood film “Escape from Alcatraz” aired on South Florida public television, prompting questions to the president this week about how he came up with the idea.

“Well, I guess I was supposed to be a moviemaker. We’re talking — we started with the moviemaking, it will end,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I mean, it represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right? Alcatraz — Sing Sing and Alcatraz, the movies.”

“But uh, it’s right now a museum,” he continued. “Believe it or not. Lotta people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world, and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up, and uh, it was a lot of shark bites, lot of problems. Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz, and just represented something strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we’re going to look at it.”

Trump’s proposal was quickly dismissed by local lawmakers, and drew confusion among tourists at Alcatraz. In order to revoke the site’s status as a national historic landmark, the National Park Service probably would have to conduct an extensive review before the Interior secretary, Doug Burgum, makes a decision on how to proceed.

“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), a former speaker of the House, said on X in response to the idea. “The President’s proposal is not a serious one.”

Trump’s plan to revive Alcatraz as a “symbol of law and order” comes as Californians are increasingly losing faith in his adherence to the rule of law.

A new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Times found that 65% of registered voters across the state believe that Trump’s actions have “gone beyond his constitutional authority as president,” including 24% of Republicans and 63% of independents.

What else you should be reading

The must-read: Trump’s call to reopen Alcatraz falls flat with tourists, who ask: Why?
The deep dive: Newsom wants a federal tax credit to save Hollywood. Why that’s a long shot
The L.A. Times Special: Trump’s popularity in a slump in California amid abuse-of-power concerns

More to come,
Michael Wilner

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