Tom Cruise dodges Trump tariffs question at ‘Mission: Impossible’ event

Tom Cruise’s latest impossible mission? Avoiding tough questions without seeming a bit evasive.

At a promotional event for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning in Seoul on Thursday, the Jerry Maguire actor declined to answer a question about President Trump’s proposed tariffs on non-American movies, which have yet to be clearly defined.

During a Q&A panel that also included M:I director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise’s castmates Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Pom Klementieff, and Greg Tarzan Davis, an attendee asked the group a long-winded question about how Trump’s tariffs may have impacted The Final Reckoning, which was shot in the United Kingdom, Norway, and South Africa.

“I’d like to ask this question to anybody who’s up for it,” the moderator interpreted in English from the questioner’s Korean. “I watched this film and I saw that it was filmed in many different locations around the world, including Africa,” the reporter said, according to an onstage translator. “Of course, we all are aware of the tariffs that President Donald Trump has been imposing on overseas productions and films. So, is this particular movie under that tariff? And how much of the film was shot overseas?”

After glancing at McQuarrie and pausing for a moment, Cruise told the moderator off-mic, “We’d rather answer questions about the movie. Thank you.” 

The moderator responded, “I think that’s a fair answer.”

Very little is known about Trump’s proposed movie tariffs, which he announced on social media on Sunday. “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death,” Trump wrote. “Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat.”

Trump continued, “It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

No specific policy decisions have been announced to enforce Trump’s plan at this point. “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

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One key Hollywood figure who has expressed support for the tariffs is Cruise’s Mission: Impossible costar Jon Voight, who the president appointed one of his three Special Ambassadors to Hollywood alongside Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone. Voight said that he appreciates the Commander-in-Chief’s commitment to increasing film and TV production in the Los Angeles area and the United States. 

“It’s come to a point where we really do need help, and thank God the president cares about Hollywood and movies,” Voight told Variety. “He has a great love for Hollywood in that way. We’ve got to roll up our sleeves here. We can’t let it go down the drain like Detroit.”

If the film tariffs are executed according to Trump’s original vision, the fallout could be severe for Cruise. The Top Gun star primarily lives and works in the U.K., and most of his recent films — including the last several Mission: Impossible entries, The Mummy, Edge of Tomorrow, and his upcoming collaboration with Alejandro González Iñárritu — conducted the majority of their productions in Great Britain.