White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned by a journalist after she claimed that Donald Trump’s tariffs are a ‘tax cut for the American people’

Karoline Leavitt has been accused of being “either tragically uninformed, or lying” after her contentious interaction with a reporter concerning Trump’s tariff strategy.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, the White House press secretary claimed the President is “actually not implementing tax hikes” while describing tariffs as “a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off.” She further claimed, “Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people and the President is a staunch advocate of tax cuts,” referencing Trump’s election promise to abolish taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security if re-elected.

However, Associated Press journalist Josh Boak challenged Karoline by asking, “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.”

Defending Trump’s position, the press secretary responded that tariffs would ultimately aid American workers by boosting wages and retaining revenue domestically, stating, “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.”

Karoline Leavitt during Tuesday’s press briefing in the White House (Image: MSNBC)

Karoline expressed her frustration with the journalist’s line of questioning, labeling it “insulting” and implying that he was challenging her “knowledge of economics and the decisions that this president has made.” She then expressed regret for allowing AP to ask a question.

The interaction between the press secretary and the reporter sparked widespread commentary online and on television. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace discussed the incident on Deadline, saying about Karoline, “She’s either tragically uninformed or lying.”

Nicole Wallace talking to journalist Annie Lowrey on MSNBC (Image: MSNBC)
The TV host continued, “There is no economist that’s been tapped to sit in Donald Trump’s cabinet who would testify under oath to what she just said, quote, ‘Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people.’ Simply the opposite is the reality.” Nicole then went on to accuse the US government of being on “a propaganda mission” regarding tariffs.

This press briefing followed President Trump’s announcement that he would raise tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25 per cent, claiming these taxes would help create US factory jobs amid fluctuating tariff threats that are unsettling the stock market and stoking concerns of an economic downturn. The increased tariffs took effect today, with the President removing all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on these metals and raising the tariffs on aluminum from 10 per cent.

Donald Trump has announced new tariffs (Image: No credit)
Trump’s recent actions, stemming from a February directive, are part of a larger scheme to shake up and reshape international trade. He has already implemented tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico, and China, and is planning to extend these taxes to imports from the European Union, Brazil, and South Korea by enforcing “reciprocal” rates starting April 2.

The EU announced its own counter-measures on Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that in response to the United States “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” which is approximately $28 billion. These counter-measures, targeting a range of products including steel, aluminum, textiles, home appliances, and agricultural goods, are set to come into force on April 1.