Associated Press Economics Writer Joshua Boak. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

JOSH BOAK

White House reporter

Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013.
The Federal Reserve Board Building is seen as it undergoes renovations, June 10, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks
President Donald Trump has looked to the marble finishes and hefty price tag of the Federal Reserve headquarters to claim grounds to fire Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he has tussled for years over interest rates.
 
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell listens during a Senate Committee on Banking hearing, June 25, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
How Trump could use a building renovation to oust Fed Chair Powell
President Donald Trump says he’s found a way to achieve his goal of removing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing him of mismanaging the U.S. central bank’s $2.5 billion renovation project.
 
President Donald Trump speaks to the media after arriving at Joint Base Andrews, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Joint Base Andrews, Md., as Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, left, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, right, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump to put tariffs of over 10% on smaller nations, including those in Africa and the Caribbean
President Donald Trump says he plans to place tariffs of over 10% on smaller countries, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean.
 
Shoppers leave Macy's in Boston, Nov. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, file)
The tariff-driven inflation that economists feared begins to emerge
Inflation rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of a range of goods, including furniture, clothing, and large appliances.
 
President Donald Trump departs the White House, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
From tariffs to universities, Trump’s negotiating style is often less dealmaking and more coercion
President Donald Trump prides himself on being a dealmaker, but his negotiating style is more ultimatum than compromise.
 
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with President Donald Trump after a group photo at the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump’s 35% Canada tariff plan deepens a rift between the neighbors
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will keep working toward a new trade framework with the United States despite U.S.
 
Protesters hold up an effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump in response to Trump's announcement of 50% tariffs on Brazilian goods, in Sao Paulo, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Brazil vows retaliatory tariffs against US if Trump follows through on 50% import taxes
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says he will impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States if President Donald Trump follows through on a pledge to boost import taxes by 50%.
 
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell listens during an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
White House escalates pressure campaign on Fed chair by targeting its headquarters renovation
President Donald Trump is escalating his pressure campaign to get the Federal Reserve chairman to either lower interest rates or quit his post by targeting the expensive renovation at the central bank’s headquarters.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during a lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump tariffs goods from Brazil at 50%, citing ‘witch hunt’ trial against country’s former president
President Donald Trump is singling out Brazil for import taxes of 50%, citing its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro.
 
President Donald Trump attends a meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Blue Room of the White House, Monday, July 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump’s previous tariff push terrified the world economy. He’s betting this time is different
The last time President Donald Trump rolled out tariffs this high, financial markets quaked, consumer confidence crashed and his popularity plunged.
 
Shoppers shop electric rice cookers imported from Japan and Korea at the H Mart in Niles, Ill., April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
Trump announces new tariffs on 14 countries and warns them via letters to not retaliate
President Donald Trump on Monday set a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea, as well as new tariff rates on a dozen other countries.
 
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, May 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump’s tariffs would cost US employers $82.3 billion, analysis shows
President Donald Trump says he’s reached a trade deal with Vietnam. Trump says Vietnam will pay a 20% tariff on goods sent into U.S. territory and a 40% tariff on transshipping, which usually means exports from China that pass through Vietnam.
 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talks to reporters about his lunch meeting with Republican senators and the schedule for getting the Republican megabill to President Donald Trump's desk by July 4, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Lawmakers remove ‘revenge’ tax provision from Trump’s big bill after Treasury Department request
Congressional Republicans have agreed to remove the so-called revenge tax provision from President Donald Trump’s big bill.
 
President Donald Trump arrives for a formal dinner at the Paleis Huis ten Bosch ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A whirlwind 48 hours: How Trump’s Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together
In a 48-hour whirlwind, President Donald Trump went from elated to indignant to triumphant as the fragile Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together, teetered toward collapse and ultimately coalesced.
 
President Donald Trump arrives with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to speak from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Saturday, June 21, 2025, after the U.S. military struck three Iranian nuclear and military sites, directly joining Israel's effort to decapitate the country's nuclear program. (Carlos Barria/Pool via AP)
Trump holds out Israel-Iran ceasefire deal as validation for his gamble of US airstrikes
President Donald Trump has declared the “12 day war” between Israel and Iran is set to end in a ceasefire.
 
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calls on reporters for questions during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, Sunday, June 22, 2025, after the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel's effort to destroy the country's nuclear program. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Trump is open to regime change in Iran, after his administration said that wasn’t the goal
President Donald Trump is calling into question the future of Iran’s ruling theocracy after a surprise attack on three of the country’s nuclear sites.
 
President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arriving at the White House, Saturday, June 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Trump’s big gamble in Iran is a risky moment after his pledges to keep US out of ‘stupid wars’
President Donald Trump has expressed certainty that his big gamble to directly assist the Israelis delivered a knockout blow to Iran’s nuclear program — even as many of his supporters and detractors are warning that U.S. military action could lead the United States into an expansive regional conflic
 
President Donald Trump walks during the official welcome of the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump muses about turning the G7 back into the G8 — or even the G9 with China
U.S. President Donald Trump is suggesting that Russia and maybe even China should be part of what is now called the Group of Seven.
 
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, from left, France's President Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz participate in a session of the G7 Summit, Monday, June 16, 2025, in Kananaskis, Canada. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Trump is departing the G7 early as conflict between Israel and Iran shows signs of intensifying
President Donald Trump is abruptly leaving the Group of Seven summit, departing a day early Monday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and the U.S. leader has declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately.”
 
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Trump administration offers some details of how it would control US Steel, but union raises concerns
President Donald Trump would have unique influence over the operations of U.S. Steel under the terms of the investment being made by Nippon Steel.
 
A Canada flag, left, and an Alberta flag flap in the breeze with Wedge Mountain in the background at the site of the G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alberta, June 2, 2025. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, file)
As Trump goes to G7 summit, other world leaders aim to show they’re not intimidated
President Donald Trump has long bet that he can scare allies into submission. It’s a gamble that is increasingly being tested ahead of the Group of Seven summit beginning Monday in Canada.
 
President Donald Trump speaks at U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Trump clears path for Nippon Steel investment in US Steel, so long as it fits the government’s terms
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S.
 
A woman demonstrates remote mining equipment at a supply chain expo in Beijing, on Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Trump says US gets rare earth minerals from China and tariffs on Chinese goods will total 55%
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that China will make it easier for American industry to obtain much-needed needed magnets and rare earth minerals, clearing the way for talks to continue between the world’s two biggest economies.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during an "Invest in America" roundtable with business leaders at the White House, Monday, June 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump’s tax bill could raise taxes on foreign companies, hurting investment from abroad
President Donald Trump likes to say he’s bringing in trillions of dollars in investments from foreign countries.
 
Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought speaks to reporters at the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump formally asks Congress to claw back approved spending targeted by DOGE
The White House has officially asked Congress to claw back $9.4 billion in already approved spending.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump’s national debt pledge faces skepticism from investors and some Republicans
President Donald Trump faces the challenge of convincing Republican senators, global investors, voters and even Elon Musk that he won’t bury the federal government in debt with his multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Elon Musk in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump says China ‘violated’ agreement on trade talks and he’ll stop being ‘nice’
President Donald Trump said Friday that he will no longer be “Mr. NICE GUY” with China on trade, declaring in a social media post that the country had broken an agreement with the United States.
 
President Donald Trump waves as he departs the White House, Friday, May 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Trump’s big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers
President Donald Trump’s big plans on trade, deportations and more are running up against the laws of political gravity and the separation of powers.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs under emergency powers law
A federal court is blocking President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law.
 
President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Trump rejects claim he’s ‘chickening out’ on tariffs just because he keeps changing rates
President Donald Trump wants the world to know he’s no “chicken” just because he’s repeatedly backed off high tariff threats.
 
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