Trump, in an evening post on his social media platform Truth Social, said he has instructed the Commerce Department and US Trade Representative to place a 100% tariff on films that are produced outside the United States and imported into America.

Declaring foreign film production a national security threat, the president said he had asked his top trade official to start the process of imposing a tax on Hollywood.

Arriving just days before what can often be a bustling acquisitions marketplace at the Cannes Film Festival, studio chieftains hastily organized war rooms to discuss implications surrounding the tariffs and ponder potential courses of action.