Trump should not save Hollywood with a tax credit which wouldnt even work

President Donald Trump has no reason to reward a hostile Hollywood with federal tax credits — while leaving the industry’s underlying problems in California intact.The California Post reported over the weekend that former LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt recently met privately with President Donald Trump.

His pitch: A 25% federal film-production tax credit to “bring back Hollywood.”Pratt is not alone.Jon Voight, one of Trump’s special ambassadors to Hollywood, has promoted a federal production credit as part of a broader industry-revival plan.

Sylvester Stallone has joined entertainment unions, studios and trade organizations urging the same.They face a political problem before they ever reach the policy debate.Trump has a long memory, and Hollywood spent the past decade trying to keep him out of the Oval Office, then denouncing him once he got there anyway.Robert De Niro called Trump “a punk,” “a dog,” “a pig” and “a con.” George Clooney branded him a “xenophobic fascist.” Tom Hanks dismissed him as a “simplistic, self-involved gasbag.”Ron Howard described him as a “self-serving, dishonest, morally bankrupt ego maniac.” Arnold Schwarzenegger declared Trump would be remembered as the “worst president ever.” Harrison Ford recently said Trump “scares the s— out of me” and called him history’s greatest criminal.Those are only a few examples.

For years, the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys and SAG Awards doubled as venues for mocking Trump and lecturing his supporters.Anti-Trump politics became part of Hollywood’s institutional culture, not an occasional protest tied to one election.The industry also put serious money behind Trump’s opponents in all three presidential campaigns.In 2016, George Clooney hosted major fundraisers for Hillary Clinton, with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and Haim Saban among the co-hosts.

The events generated an estimated $15 million.In 2020, Clooney and Katzenberg raised $7 millio...