Prior to his inauguration, then-President-elect Trump took to Truth Social and showered honors upon a surprised constellation of stars:
It is my honor to announce Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone, to be Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California. They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! 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!
[Author’s admission: I was disappointed Rober Davi, a steadfast Trump supporter, was not included in these selections. Perhaps, in the next round?]
I have quoted in full President Trump’s post because it raises some intriguing questions about how he and his administration, specifically, and Republican populists and/or MAGA supporters, generally, will engage Hollywood—and arts and culture overall—during his second term of office.
While some have dismissed the appointments as a political sop to some of his celebrity supporters, writing about the post in Variety, Jordan Moreau honed in on the reference to “business”:
President-elect Donald Trump is hoping to make Hollywood “stronger than ever before” by naming… “special ambassadors,” whose goal will be to bring back business lost to “foreign countries.”
…The [film industry’s] domestic box office in 2024 was also down from the year prior, as the Hollywood release calendar took a hit from the 2023 actors and writers strikes. Last year’s revenues were $8.7 billion, down 3.3% from 2023 and 23.5% from 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, which reached $11.3 billion.
The take is a sound one. President Trump is committed to protecting all American industries from unfair foreign competition. Like so many others, the American film industry has long struggled with this problem, including barriers to entering foreign markets and systemic intellectual property theft. That President Trump would designate individuals who support his efforts to defend our companies and entrepreneurs to keep him alert to how such policies are working and can be improved makes eminent sense.
Further, President Trump is also committed to reducing the federal tax and regulatory burden upon all American industries and businesses—including taming inflation that has devastated both producers and consumers. Again, the film industry is no different. Relying upon discretionary income for ticket sales (and facing existential challenges from the internet, streaming services and even AI), it is vitally important for the film industry to have advocates able to communicate with this or any president and his or her administration.
Yet, while sound, the solely economic—and, yes, political—view of the “ambassadorial” appointments seems insufficient to explain its raison d’etre.
In referencing the “Golden Age of Hollywood”—be it the years immediately post-World War II or the later post-studio years of the late Sixties and early Seventies—is it possible President Trump is aiming for more than the film industry’s increased profitability?
The late Andrew Breitbart’s “doctrine” holds that “politics is downstream from culture.” While some on the right may think this overblown, the left certainly concurs. It is why the left’s blacklisting of the film industry’s MAGA and Republican populists is very real. Making political inroads to balance the partisan ledger and facilitate alternative—i.e., non-progressive—voices and viewpoints being produced and presented to domestic and international audiences would be a boon for the GOP. It would also protect and promote the livelihood of those Trump supporters, both in front of and behind the cameras.
Yet, if such is President Trump’s long-term goal, it faces numerous obstacles.
First, the bulk of the MAGA and Republican-populist base has no love for today’s Hollywood. At the same time, however, not since Ronald Reagan has a GOP president had such a fondness and affinity for Hollywood. (Vice President Vance is also acquainted with the film industry.) President Trump, who made cameo appearances in film and television and even starred in his own reality TV series, has long been on familiar and friendly terms with many Hollywood stars and industry luminaries.
His base has never been. One only needs to peruse some of their angry responses to glimpse a small sampling of the reciprocal animus they feel toward the Hollywood crowd and their Democrat officials. True, the Trump base appreciates Misters Voight, Gibson, and Stallone are exceptions to the rule. But for the MAGA base, Hollywood’s rule remains and galls. Putting a pox on their house is viewed as a lot easier and, likely, more satisfying than trying to make GOP inroads in a liberal hell hole, however glamourous.
Obviously, that is not President Trump’s opinion. Still, it is curious he named this trio of stars “special ambassadors” and later referred to them as envoys—such is terminology more often assigned to individuals a president sends to foreign, often hostile, lands.
Secondly, any attempt by the Trump administration to employ government resources to direct or dictate the content being produced by the film industry will rightly meet stiff opposition from the industry and likely not pass constitutional muster.
This directly impacts one of the most significant problems Hollywood MAGA and GOP populists face in trying to make a living in front of and behind the camera: the dearth of financial power to produce films that are blacklist-proof and, instead, will recruit and employ them. Yet, any attempt to use federal funds to commence or subsidize such an effort will run into constitutional issues, as well as political opposition from the right over such a use of taxpayer funds (as noted above).
Thirdly, like so many MAGA and Republican populists, many have voted with their feet to escape progressive-dominated cities and states. The conservative creative community is no different. Indeed, it is evident the artistic locus of the MAGA and Republican-populist movement is no longer in Hollywood. It is in Nashville.
Presently, not only music but filmmaking, art, and literature are being produced by creative populists within Nashville and throughout the entire state of Tennessee. And, for Republican populists and MAGA artists, actors, musicians, and authors, and the entrepreneurs and blue-collar workers who make possible the creation, production, and distribution of their works, this shift from Hollywood to Nashville shows no sign of slowing—unless they begin moving to Florida in even greater numbers.
Certainly, there exist more obstacles than these to consider and surmount. But what if President Trump was speaking of Hollywood not as a locus or an industry but as the entire arts community being a beacon of American exceptionalism? What if he was calling for a new “golden age” where the entire creative community would engage the world with their talents and reveal what a free people can achieve in the arts and, indeed, in every facet of life? What if, in recognizing and calling for this, he was proclaiming his intent to ensure the U.S. government will work with them to defend the arts community from unfair foreign competition and other ills?
While the appointment of his three Hollywood “ambassadors” could provide a springboard to accomplish this, at this juncture it remains unclear whether the Trump administration has developed a concrete, concerted strategy to do so. Time will tell. For despite being BACK—BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!, it is still early in the run time of Trump 2: Elected Boogaloo.
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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012 and served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee. Not a lobbyist, he is a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a Monday co-host of the “John Batchelor Radio Show,” among sundry media appearances.
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