Screengrab from the press briefing
A heated exchange erupted between White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and an Associated Press reporter on Tuesday over US president Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
AP’s Josh Boak started his question by noting that Trump had previously pushed for tax cuts but was now focusing on tariffs, which he described as a form of tax hike. Before he could finish, Leavitt cut in, saying, Trump is “not doing that.”
“When President Trump last addressed the VR team when he was on the campaign trail, his big push was on tax cuts. He’s going there today as he’s proposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs—” Boak had said. “I’m curious why he’s prioritising that over the tax cuts,” he continued after Leavitt’s denial.
“He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people,” she answered, emphasising Trump’s commitment to tax cuts on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits.
Boak fired back, saying, “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies. They get charged on the importers.”
Leavitt defended Trump’s stance, arguing that fair trade would ultimately benefit American workers by increasing wages and keeping revenue within the country.
“And ultimately, when we have fair and balanced trade, which the American people have not seen in decades, as I said at the beginning, revenues will stay here, wages will go up, and our country will be made wealthy again,” she said.
Frustrated with the line of questioning, Leavitt said she regretted giving AP a question, calling Boak’s approach “insulting” and suggesting he was testing her knowledge of economics. “And I think it’s insulting you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions this president has made.”
The clash is part of a broader pattern of friction between the Trump administration and the AP. In February, Trump revoked the AP’s access to the Oval Office and Air Force One after the news agency refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”
