Asked About ‘TACO’ and Tariffs, Trump Lashes Out at Reporter


The term “TACO,” short for Trump Always Chickens Out, has been used to describe how markets tumble on the president’s tariff threats, then rebound when he gives way.


President Trump lashed out at a reporter who asked him about “TACO,” a new term on Wall Street that is short for Trump Always Chickens Out. It refers to the way traders are loading up and dumping stocks as they react to Mr. Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs.

President Trump, it would seem, is not one for a “TACO.” The taco in question is not a dish made with tortillas, but rather a reference to how markets are responding to his tariff policies.

The TACO trade, short for Trump Always Chickens Out, is a tongue-in-cheek term coined by the Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong. It has been adopted by some analysts and commentators to describe the potentially lucrative pattern in which markets tumble after Mr. Trump makes tariff threats, only to rebound sharply when he relents and allows countries more time to negotiate deals.

The president has spent years cultivating a reputation for political muscle. So when he was asked by a reporter in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether the term might be a valid description of his approach to tariffs, Mr. Trump reacted with ire.

“I chicken out? I’ve never heard that,” he said. “Don’t ever say what you said,” he told the reporter. “That’s a nasty question. To me, that’s the nastiest question.”

But gyrations driven by the president’s on-again, off-again tariffs are by now taken for granted on Wall Street. Stock markets jumped on Tuesday, for example, after Mr. Trump delayed a proposed 50 percent tariff on the European Union that he had threatened only a few days earlier.


Blog NYT, 29-05-2025 (Matthew Mpoke Bigg)