Donald Trump furious over Wall Street's 'TACO' dig – how did his tariffs spark the phrase?
Donald Trump was left furious after being asked about a phrase that's become popular on Wall Street – 'TACO'.
Coined by a Financial Times journalist, TACO stands for "Trump always chickens out" and references the US president's tendency to announce high import tariffs, only to later pause or lower them.
The term was put to Mr Trump by a journalist in the White House on Wednesday, prompting the president to label the question "nasty".
Mr Trump denied that he has ever backed down on tariffs and said his approach has helped the US push other countries towards the negotiating table.
Mr Trump said the EU told him officials will "meet you anytime you want" after a 50% tariff on goods from the bloc was announced.
He said he delayed the levy after a call from Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
The US president told the reporter who brought up TACO: "You call that chickening out? It's called negotiation."
"Don't ever say what you said," he added. "That's a nasty question."
Mr Trump's various tariff announcements have taken global stock markets on a rollercoaster.
His wave of 'Liberation Day' tariffs, announced in April, sent worldwide markets plummeting - with US indexes experiencing their worst days since the COVID pandemic.
The US also became locked in a trade war with China when Beijing retaliated with raised levies of its own. The two countries have now slashed their tariffs and entered a 90-day truce.
A court has since blocked Mr Trump's sweeping tariffs, ruling that the president exceeded his authority when he made the 2 April announcement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
LAFC book place in Chelsea's group at Club World Cup
Los Angeles FC booked a place in Chelsea's group at this summer's Fifa Club World Cup after coming from behind to beat Club America in a play-off. Gabon international Denis Bouanga drilled home the winner five minutes from the end of extra time after the match, being played at LAFC's BMO Stadium, had finished 1-1. The one-off game was played after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Fifa's decision to expel Mexican side Club Leon from the new extended 32-team tournament, which will be played in the United States from 15 June to 13 July. Fifa determined in March that Club Leon did not meet tournament regulations on multi-club ownership. They had qualified for the Club World Cup after beating LAFC in the 2023 Concacaf Champions League final, while Club America were the highest-ranked team behind Club Leon in confederation ranking who did not qualify for the America took the lead in the play-off through a 64th minute penalty by former LAFC player Brian Rodriguez after Mark Delgado had fouled Erick Igor Jesus headed home an 89th-minute equaliser, his first LAFC goal, to take the game into extra time. Former Chelsea and Arsenal forward Oliver Giroud provided the spark for LAFC after being introduced off the bench in the 74th 38-year-old, a World Cup winner with France, set up Bouanga's winner as the play-off looked to be heading for a penalty who also include former Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris in their ranks, will face Chelsea in their opening Group D fixture in Atalanta on 16 June, before further matches against Brazilian side Flamengo and Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
BBC News
14 minutes ago
- BBC News
Prison officers should be armed, say Conservatives
Prison officers dealing with violent inmates should be armed, the shadow justice secretary has said. Specialist guards should have Taser stun guns and baton rounds - a less lethal alternative to traditional bullets - to give them "confidence" in handling threats, Robert Jenrick told the BBC. The Conservatives said secure armouries should be introduced at maximum security jails and used as a last officers in adult male prisons currently only carry an extendable baton and Pava, a synthetic pepper spray. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said some prison officers will use Tasers this summer on a trial basis, but argued that giving them lethal weapons would put them at greater Prison Officers' Association (POA), a union, called for stronger protection for staff after a string of attacks. It said stun guns should be made available to officers working in the UK's most dangerous to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Jenrick said that without intervention it was "only a matter of time" before a prison officer was "held hostage and potentially killed".He added that under his proposals, officers would not be "walking the wings" with lethal weapons, but would "have access to them if they need them".The Conservative's call for officers to be armed follows a review conducted for the party by former prison governor Ian other policies, the party also wants to see high-collar stab vests immediately rolled out to frontline officers. 'Dire record' In response to the proposals, Labour said it was "cleaning up the mess" after the Conservatives' "dire record" in office."In 14 years they added fewer than 500 prison places in total and closed 1,600 cells in the high-security estate as assaults on prison officers soared and experienced officers quit," a party spokesperson his BBC interview, Jenrick, who held various ministerial roles in the last government, conceded that his party "should have done more" in office."But we're in opposition now, it is my job to bring forward good, sensible solutions," he MoJ said protective body armour is used in segregation units and specialist areas for situations that are deemed as high added that a "snap review" into whether it should be used more routinely will report in the coming days.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
'Lilo & Stitch' passes 'Sinners' to become 2nd highest grossing film of 2025
'Lilo & Stich' and 'Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning' dominated the box office charts again after fueling a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend. Theaters in the U.S. and Canada had several new films to offer this weekend as well, including Sony's family friendly 'Karate Kid: Legends' and the A24 horror movie 'Bring Her Back. ' According to studio estimates Sunday, it added up to a robust $145 million post-holiday weekend that's up over 115% from the same timeframe last year. Disney's live-action hybrid 'Lilo & Stitch' took first place again with $63 million from 4,410 locations in North America. It was enough to pass 'Sinners' to become the second-highest grossing movie of the year with $280.1 million in domestic ticket sales. Globally, it's running total is $610.8 million. ' Sinners,' meanwhile, is still going strong in its seventh weekend with another $5.2 million, bumping it to $267.1 million domestically and $350.1 million globally. The eighth 'Mission: Impossible' movie also repeated in second place, with $27.3 million from 3,861 locations. As with 'Lilo & Stitch,' that's down 57% from its opening. With $122.6 million in domestic tickets sold, it's performing in line with the two previous installments. But with a reported production budget of $400 million, profitability is a ways off. Internationally, it added $76.1 million (including $25.2 million from China where it just opened), bringing its global total to $353.8 million. Leading the newcomers was Sony's 'Karate Kid: Legends,' with an estimated $21 million from 3,809 locations. The movie brings Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio together to train a new kid, the kung fu prodigy Li Fong ( Ben Wang ). Chan starred in a 2010 reboot of the 1984 original, while Macchio has found a new generation of fans in the series 'Cobra Kai,' which just concluded a six-season run. Reviews might have been mixed, but opening weekend audiences gave the PG-13 rated film a strong A- CinemaScore and 4.5 stars on PostTrak. It also only cost a reported $45 million to produce and has several weeks until a new family-friendly film arrives. Fourth place went 'Final Destination: Bloodlines,' which earned $10.8 million in its third weekend. The movie is the highest-grossing in the franchise, not accounting for inflation, with $229.3 million globally. The weekend's other big newcomer, 'Bring Her Back' rounded out the top five with $7.1 million from 2,449 screens. Starring Sally Hawkins as a foster mother with some disturbing plans, the film is the sophomore feature of twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, who made the 2023 horror breakout 'Talk to Me.' It earned a rare-for-horror B+ CinemaScore and is essentially the only new film in the genre until '28 Years Later' opens on June 20. A new Wes Anderson movie, 'The Phoenician Scheme,' also debuted in New York and Los Angeles this weekend, where it made $270,000. It expands nationwide next weekend. The summer box office forecast remains promising, though there's a long way to go to get to the $4 billion target (a pre-pandemic norm that only the 'Barbenheimer' summer has surpassed). The month of May is expected to close out with $973 million – up 75% from May 2024, according to data from Comscore.
