White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was mocked after she was fact-checked not only by an Associated Press reporter in real-time during a briefing but also by an X Community Note after she lied about tariffs being "a tax cut for the American people."
In fact, tariffs are a tax on imported goods, usually calculated as a percentage of the purchase price. While tariffs can shield domestic manufacturers by making foreign products more expensive, they are also used as a tool to penalize countries engaged in unfair trade practices, such as government subsidies or dumping goods below market value.
President Donald Trump has championed tariffs, arguing falsely that foreign nations bear the cost. In reality, it is American importers—businesses that purchase goods from abroad—that pay the tariffs, with the revenue going directly to the U.S. Treasury.
These companies often offset their increased costs by raising prices for consumers, meaning that tariffs ultimately function as a hidden tax on American shoppers.
But Leavitt nonetheless insisted that Trump is not actually "imposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs" as expressed by AP reporter Josh Boak, who questioned why Trump is "prioritizing that [tax hikes] over the tax cuts."
Leavitt replied:
“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. And the president is a staunch advocate for tax cuts."
"As you know, he campaigned on ‘No taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security benefits.’ He is committed to all three of those things, and he expects Congress to pass them later this year.”
But Boak saw right through her response:
“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.”
And Leavitt bristled, criticizing the AP directly:
“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. And I think it’s insulting you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics and the decisions this president has made."
"Now I regret giving a question to the Associated Press."
After footage of the exchange was posted to X, a Community Note pointed to info from the Tax Foundation, which affirms that:
"Tariffs are not a tax hike on foreign countries. Tariffs are paid by the importer, and the burden of the tariff has been found to be mostly passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices."
You can see the video below.
Leavitt was quickly called out.
The exchange between Boak and Leavitt unfolded against the backdrop of an ongoing dispute between the White House and the AP over press access.
The White House has barred AP reporters and photographers from the press pool that traditionally covers the president and has excluded them from certain events inside the White House. This marks a significant break from precedent, as the AP has been part of the press pool for decades.
The conflict originated from the AP’s decision not to fully adopt the term “Gulf of America”—a name change for the Gulf of Mexico mandated by one of Trump’s executive orders—into its widely used Stylebook, which serves as a language guide for U.S. news organizations.
@GovPressOffice/X
