Summary
AP reporter Josh Boak clashed with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt over Trump’s tariff policy, which she called “a tax cut for the American people.”
Boak challenged her claim: “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies, they get charged on importers,” Boak said.
Leavitt accused him of questioning her economic knowledge and later regretted calling on AP.
The tense exchange highlights ongoing White House-AP tensions, as a federal judge prepares to hear AP’s legal challenge over press access on March 20.
Mind you, bringing production back to the US will never lower costs, completely regardless of the fact that labor and environmental compliance is more costly. All tariffs do is set a price floor for imported products that domestic supplies now only have to match.