Thursday, May 21, 2026

Donald Trump Declares Tariff on Movies Made Outside US, Including Buddy Mel Gibson’s International “Passion of the Christ 2”

Share

You look at his dull, bloated face slathered in some kind polyurethane and think, What else can he do to harm us?

Now Donald Trump, determined to cut world culture off from us and vice versa, has found a new lunatic scheme.

He’s going to put a tariff on all films made outside the United States. He’s obviously not voting in Best International Feature. His rationale is that “Hollywood is dying,” which it’s not.

But maybe his Hollywood ambassadors — or imbeciles — Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone — have convinced him this is their diplomatic duty.

Gibson should be thrilled. His “Passion of the Christ 2” is reportedly going to shoot at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. Additional filming locations will include ancient Southern Italian towns like Matera, Ginosa, Gravina Laterza, and Altamura. Other reported locations include Malta, Israel, and Morocco.

Has anyone told Trump that “Passion 2” will need a tariff, according to his plan?

Trump is a buffoon who posts first, and never thinks later. But imagine that phone call from Mel right now. Or from Trump’s other buddies like Dennis Quaid, Vince Vaughn, and so on?

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News