Trump reportedly fuming after being left in the dark about TACO — sources say he felt blindsided by team
On Wednesday, Trump got mad during a press conference when a reporter mentioned 'TACO.' TACO stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out', it's a joke about how Trump often backs down from his tough tariff threats. A senior White House official told CNN that Trump had never heard of the term before that moment, as per reports.
Trump even said out loud, 'I've never heard that,' and called it 'the nastiest question.' The official said Trump thought the reporter was literally calling him a chicken. Trump felt frustrated, not just because of the term, but because his own team didn't warn him about it becoming popular, according to the report by CNN.
He vented to his team right after the press conference. The term hurt Trump because it made him seem weak, and he hates being seen that way. One source said Trump got upset because people didn't understand he uses tariff threats as leverage in negotiations.
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Trump explained at the event that sometimes he sets high tariffs, then lowers them if other countries give him what he wants. 'It clearly bothered him,' the source added, saying Trump doesn't like being called weak.
Just recently, Trump threatened a 50% tariff on the EU, but then extended talks instead of acting immediately. He also re-threatened China with more tariffs but pulled back after making a new deal. Last month, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, but now they're down to 30%.
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The term 'TACO' first came from a May 2 article by Robert Armstrong of the Financial Times. Armstrong writes a finance newsletter called Unhedged, where he uses 'TACO' to explain Trump's back-and-forth trade style.
Armstrong said markets learned not to panic too much because Trump often backs off when economic pain gets real. The 'TACO' theory says this, when Trump makes a scary tariff threat, stocks fall, but they bounce back when he steps down. The nickname started becoming a joke among finance people on X. It got even bigger, analysts and economists started using it in reports and client notes.
Even Armstrong was surprised how fast the term spread in Wall Street circles. On his podcast, Armstrong said social media is a mystery to him. He joked that he hopes TACO doesn't make Trump stop 'chickening out,' because backing away from bad policies is a good thing, as per the Financial Times podcast.
Trump wasn't happy with the term at all, he told the reporter, 'You call that chickening out? It's called negotiation', as per reports.
FAQs
Q1. What does TACO mean in Trump's case?
It stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out', a joke about him pulling back on trade threats.
Q2. Why was Trump upset about the TACO term?
He didn't know about it and felt it made him look weak in front of the media.
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