Even Tom Cruise's Haters Are Praising Him For His Shady Dig At Donald Trump

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For film aficionados, an outer space movie by Tom Cruise, who's clearly aging like fine wine, just sounds astounding. Can you imagine the stunt work he'd insist on doing himself? Unfortunately, it'll be left to our imaginations, as the A-list actor has shared he's shelved it, and it's not for creative reasons. According to a Page Six exclusive report, Cruise simply didn't want to ask Donald Trump, who often has difficulty keeping his ego in check, for a favor. 

In 2020, it was reported that Tom Cruise was planning to film a movie in outer space with Doug Liman, who worked with Cruise on "American Made" and "Edge of Tomorrow," with directing and guidance from both Elon Musk's company SpaceX and NASA. It's clear the project might have been a massive cinematic event, one that would have been perfect for the 70mm IMAX experience. But, despite its ambition, the film seems to have never made any progress beyond the planning stages.

Sources familiar with the project explained that to move forward with the major blockbuster production, Cruise would need to seek federal approval. Under the current administration, this was a step Cruise was reportedly not interested in taking. The internet has since gone wild after this revelation, with even longtime Cruise skeptics praising the actor for quietly standing his ground. "Yeah I rarely praise his public persona but this was a good stand for him," posted one user on X (formerly Twitter). Another wrote, "You won me over this time scientology man."

Tom Cruise has had quite the number of controversies over the years, but the one thing he's largely kept his distance from is politics. In fact, the last time he publicly endorsed a political figure was in 2009 when he expressed support for Barack Obama. Since then, he's kept his political views to himself, which is why Cruise scrapping the film to avoid having to ask Donald Trump for a favor may or may not be intended as some kind of political statement. 

This wasn't the first time Cruise may have actively avoided interacting with Trump. The Washington Post reported that the Hollywood icon had turned down an invitation from Donald Trump to receive a Kennedy Center Honor in December 2025 due to prior scheduled commitments. Given Cruise's stature, the internet couldn't help but take notice and speculate that the actor likely turned it down for political reasons. In response to an X post about Cruise declining the honor, one user jokingly replied, "You know you're f***ed when the second highest ranking Scientologist is rebuffing you."