It was supposed to be a standard swearing-in ceremony for the acting attorney general. Instead, May 28, 2025, turned into one of those bizarre media moments that lives forever in the weird intersection of high-stakes economics and petty political theater. You've probably seen the clip by now. A reporter stands up and asks Donald Trump a question about "TACO."
The President looked visibly confused. Honestly, it was a rare moment where he didn't immediately have a comeback ready. He seemed to think she was actually talking about lunch. Or maybe he thought she was calling him a chicken.
Well, she kind of was. But it wasn't about poultry or Mexican food. It was about Wall Street's new favorite way to describe his trade policy.
The Viral Moment: Reporter Asks Trump About Taco
When CNBC correspondent Megan Cassella brought up the term, the room went a little quiet. "Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the taco trade," she said. She didn't let him stay confused for long. She quickly explained that TACO stands for "Trump Always Chickens Out."
The reaction was instant. Trump’s face shifted from curiosity to that familiar defensive posture. He didn't find it funny. Not even a little.
"Don't ever say what you said," he fired back. "That's a nasty question."
He then spent the next several minutes insisting that his habit of threatening massive tariffs and then delaying or softening them wasn't "chickening out." In his view, it’s just negotiation. He told the press corps, "I usually have the opposite problem. They say I am too tough."
But the damage was done. By the time the press conference ended, "TACO trade" was the top trending topic on X (formerly Twitter). The internet, as it always does, took a technical market term and turned it into a tsunami of memes.
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Where Did the TACO Acronym Actually Come From?
Believe it or not, this wasn't some random insult cooked up in a basement. It actually started with the serious financial press. Robert Armstrong, a journalist for the Financial Times, first used the term in his "Unhedged" column back on May 2, 2025.
Armstrong was looking at the "Liberation Day" tariffs. Trump had announced massive 50% tariffs on the European Union, only to pause them just a week later when the markets started to panic.
The pattern was becoming obvious to traders.
- Trump makes a big, scary threat.
- The market dips.
- Trump "delays" the threat to "allow for negotiations."
- The market rebounds.
Wall Street realized they could make a lot of money by betting on this cycle. They started calling it the "TACO factor." If you buy the dip after the threat, you win when he "chickens out" and the markets go back up. It’s a strategy born out of the belief that this administration has a very low tolerance for sustained economic pain.
The Ghost of the 2016 Taco Bowl
You can't talk about a reporter asking Trump about tacos without everyone’s brain immediately flashing back to May 5, 2016. That was the day the world was introduced to the Trump Tower Grill taco bowl.
That original tweet—where Trump sat at his desk with a thumbs up and a bowl of taco salad, captioned "I love Hispanics!"—is legendary for all the wrong reasons. It’s basically the gold standard for "tone-deaf political outreach." Critics pointed out that taco bowls aren't even Mexican, and that eating one doesn't exactly erase his comments about "bad hombres" or border walls.
So, when the word "taco" resurfaced in a 2025 press conference, the irony was just too thick to ignore. Within 24 hours of the "nasty question" exchange, the DNC actually parked a taco truck outside the RNC headquarters. The truck was covered in pictures of Trump in a chicken suit. They gave out free tacos to anyone walking by.
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Politics in 2026 is basically just an endless series of food-based stunts.
It Got Weirder: Burritos and Churros
Once the TACO acronym took off, other economists decided to jump on the bandwagon. It became a bit of a contest to see who could come up with the most creative Mexican food-themed insult for the administration's policies.
Justin Wolfers, an economist who frequently appears on MSNBC, went on a tear on May 30th. He coined "BURRITO," which stands for the "Blatantly Unconstitutional Rewriting of the Rules of International Trade, Obviously." He didn't stop there. He suggested that if the President keeps using BURRITO tactics, the legal system would eventually have to step in with a "CHURRO." That stands for "Courts Have Ultimate Responsibility to Restore Order."
It’s easy to laugh at the wordplay, but there’s a serious point underneath the snacks. The constant "will he or won't he" regarding tariffs creates massive volatility. For a small business owner trying to plan inventory, this isn't just a meme. It's a nightmare. If you don't know if your costs are going up 50% next Tuesday, how do you set your prices?
Why This Matters Beyond the Meme
The TACO trade reveals a fundamental tension in the current political climate. On one hand, the President sees himself as the ultimate "Art of the Deal" negotiator. He thinks the threat is the tool. If you don't threaten to burn the house down, nobody will listen to your offer to buy it.
On the other hand, the markets have "priced in" his threats. They don't take them literally anymore. They take them seriously, but not literally. When Wall Street starts giving your negotiation style a nickname based on Mexican food, it’s a sign that your "unpredictability" has actually become completely predictable.
If the goal of a tariff threat is to scare a foreign country into a deal, it only works if they believe you'll actually do it. If the European Union or China believes the "TACO factor" is real, they can just wait you out. They know if they hold firm for seven days, the market pressure back home will force a retreat.
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Real-World Impact of the TACO Factor
Take the June 1st deadline for European tariffs. The administration was set to slap a 50% tax on everything from French wine to German cars. European markets showed signs of absolute panic. But instead of letting the tariffs hit, Trump pushed the deadline to July 9.
He claimed it was a show of strength. Wall Street saw it as a "TACO" moment.
| Date | Event | Market Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2025 | 50% EU Tariffs Announced | Dow drops 800 points |
| May 28, 2025 | Reporter asks about "TACO" | Brief volatility, meme goes viral |
| June 1, 2025 | Tariffs delayed to July 9 | Dow gains 1,200 points |
The "TACO trade" isn't just a joke; it's a multi-billion dollar shift in wealth. Traders who understood the pattern made a killing. Meanwhile, the actual diplomatic goals of the tariffs—like reducing the trade deficit or protecting American steel—remained unfulfilled.
Moving Past the "Nasty Question"
So, what do we do with this information? Honestly, whether you love the guy or hate him, you have to admit he’s the most "meme-able" president in history. But if you’re trying to navigate the economy in 2026, you have to look past the "nasty questions" and the chicken costumes.
The TACO acronym is a reminder that in modern politics, perception is just as important as policy. When a reporter asks a question like that, they aren't just trying to get a rise out of him; they're reflecting a very real consensus among the people who move the world's money.
Actionable Insights for the Current Climate
If you're following these trade wars, keep these three things in mind:
- Watch the Rebound, Not Just the Drop: Market history shows that the initial shock of a tariff announcement is often followed by a recovery once the "negotiation" phase begins. Don't panic-sell your 401k on the first headline.
- The "July 9" Factor: Keep an eye on the new deadlines. The administration is currently in a cycle of pushing dates back. If a date actually sticks, that’s when the real economic shift happens.
- Ignore the Rhetoric, Watch the Action: Whether it's "negotiation" or "chickening out," the result is the same: the status quo remains longer than the headlines suggest.
The next time a reporter asks Trump about a taco, or a burrito, or any other snack food, remember that there's usually a very expensive reason behind the joke. The "TACO trade" might be a funny name, but it represents the very real struggle of trying to govern via the stock market.
Keep your eyes on the July 9th deadline. That’s when we’ll see if the TACO trade is here to stay or if the administration finally decides to stop "chickening out" and let the tariffs fly. Either way, it's going to be a bumpy ride for the markets.