Overview

• White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with AP reporter Josh Boak during a briefing over President Trump's use of tariffs, which Boak described as 'tax hikes.'
• Leavitt defended the tariffs as benefiting American workers and argued they were a tax on foreign nations, not U.S. importers, sparking a heated exchange about economic impacts.
• The confrontation highlighted ongoing tensions between the White House and the Associated Press, which has been excluded from certain events and press pools after a dispute over adopting the term 'Gulf of America.'
• A federal judge recently declined to immediately reinstate the AP's White House access, scheduling further arguments for March 20 to address the legal and constitutional implications.
• The AP's exclusion has also affected its ability to cover key moments, including its photographers being barred despite winning awards for significant political imagery.