Trump pushes Hollywood tax incentive deal during FAA flight crisis, makes no statement on outage
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Friday, November 13, promoted a bipartisan bill aimed at bringing film and television production back to the United States as a telecommunications outage triggered a rare nationwide ground stop.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the disruption affected its air traffic control system, prompting flight delays and cancellations across the country. Trump had not issued a public statement specifically addressing the aviation crisis before posting about the proposed entertainment industry legislation.
Trump promotes Hollywood tax incentive bill as FAA investigates nationwide outage
The FAA announced the nationwide ground stop after a telecommunications outage affected its air traffic control system. The cause of the disruption had not been disclosed, while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that officials were investigating a communication problem affecting air route traffic control centres.
Duffy said that FAA technicians were examining the issue at around 1:15 pm PT. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also addressed the incident, saying the administration did not believe it was an extremist attack.
"This isn’t another 9/11. This is a telecommunication outage," Mullin said.
The last nationwide flight grounding occurred in 2023, when an outage affecting the FAA's system for alerting pilots to safety issues halted flights for about 90 minutes. Before that, nationwide ground stops had been issued on September 11, 2001.
While the disruption continued, Trump used his Truth Social post to promote the proposed entertainment legislation, which he said had attracted bipartisan support. The president described efforts to bring production back to the US as having received "unbelievable" support and argued that foreign tax incentives had contributed to Hollywood production moving overseas.
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump announces he's teaming up with Republicans and Democrats including Adam SCHIFF, to bring Hollywood back to America "Hollywood, and so many other places, have been virtually 'emptied out' by the Tax Incentives, and much more, given by other Countries." "It was MADE IN AMERICA, and must STAY IN AMERICA." "The Entertainment Industry has largely moved to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries, but the actors, producers, and all others involved want to come back home!" "Hundreds of thousands of Blue Collar Workers will be positively affected, BIG TIME, by the passage of this Bill." "The amount of money spent on these Tax Incentives will be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury's coffers." "MAKE OUR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY GREAT AGAIN!"
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 13, 2026
Trump said the industry was "made in America, and must stay in America." He also claimed that hundreds of thousands of workers, including production crew members, would benefit from the legislation. The president argued that the cost of the proposed tax incentives would "be made up tenfold by the money pouring into the Treasury's coffers."
Jon Voight meets Trump as Democrats back bipartisan film incentive proposal
Trump made the post after a White House meeting with Voight and his team, including Steven Paul and Scott Karol, who urged the president to support a federal film incentive during Congress's lame-duck session.
The proposal would provide a 20% to 30% rebate on domestic labour costs for film and television productions. Karol told Variety that Trump was receiving updates about the flight situation and a capsized boat in New Orleans during the meeting, while also giving the group his attention.
"It was exciting to watch," Karol said.
Trump also said that he was working with Republican Senator Tim Scott and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, along with lawmakers from both parties, to advance the legislation. The president also called for Republicans and Democrats to finalise what he described as an actively negotiated bill.
We shouldn’t wait until January to get things done, when there is a bipartisan opportunity to create jobs in this country right now. President Trump and I agree: it's time for Congress to pass a federal film tax incentive. Let's get this done! https://t.co/KOmigd064c
— Senator Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) November 13, 2026
Schiff responded on X, saying that "President Trump and I agree: it’s time for Congress to pass a federal film incentive." Democratic Rep. Laura Friedman, another co-author, also urged lawmakers not to delay the proposal, saying that "there’s no excuse to wait."
When the White House and this many members of both parties agree, there's no excuse to wait. A national film and TV incentive means jobs in California, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and every state across the country. Let’s get it done.
— Rep. Laura Friedman (@RepFriedmanCA) November 13, 2026
She argued that a national incentive would support jobs in California, Georgia, New York, New Jersey and other states. Trump concluded his post by calling for the entertainment industry to be made great again.
