Robert De Niro slams President Donald Trump at Cannes 2025

The Cannes Film Festival 2025 has kicked off, and apart from the fashion statement, serious issues such as US President Donald Trump's government decisions were also discussed during the event. On Tuesday, Robert De Niro, who hit the Cannes red carpet in a rare public appearance with partner Tiffany Chen, used his time at the annual film festival to call out President Trump.

On May 13, De Niro and Chen were spotted in the south of France at the start of Cannes, where he received the Honorary Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award, which is a lifetime achievement award to honour directors and actors who haven't won a Palme d'Or in a competition.

The couple share a 2-year-old daughter, Gia Virginia, who earlier stepped out at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023. During the event, the couple was spotted holding hands on the red carpet at the film festival in New York City as they attended a screening of 'Kiss the Future.'

Credit: X

De Niro called out Donald Trump over his proposed tariffs on films

While delivering his acceptance speech at Cannes, De Niro took the US president to task for his proposed film tariff and called him a 'philistine.'

De Niro said, Trump has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities, and education, and now he announced the 100 per cent tariff on films produced outside the US.

He went on to say, "You can't put a price on creativity, but apparently, you can put a tariff on it." The Oscar-winning actor also called on everyone who cares about liberty to protest against Trump.

Robert De Niro shared a strong message against Donald Trump’s tariff policies on art and cinema. #cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/M8DXBlvH9x

— Brut America (@brutamerica) May 13, 2025

Donald Trump puts a 100 per cent tariff on all foreign-made films

On May 4, President Donald Trump announced that he was authorising the US Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to start the process of instituting a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films.

However, it was unclear if Trump proposed tariffs that would apply to movies on streaming services as well as those shown in theatres, or if they would just calculate the production costs or box office revenue.

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