President Donald Trump has been betrothed many names. Some of my personal favourites I’ve seen online include “little orange man” and “McF*cking idiot.” But recently, he’s been given a new nickname: President TACO. And no, before you ask, the name has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican food.
First coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, the ‘TACO’ term came about due to the president’s relentless flip-flopping when it came to his rather controversial tariff plans.
Armstrong, who has written extensively on the US financial market and specifically Wall Street, accurately described the politician’s back and forth agenda as “Trump Always Chickens Out,” and so the ‘TACO’ term was born.
Last month, Robert Armstrong coined the acronym 'Taco' — which stands for 'Trump always chickens out' — as a way to describe the US president's tariff approach and the way markets react to it.
Listen to the Unhedged podcast: https://t.co/QkinuTubTA pic.twitter.com/xHklnIufGp
— Financial Times (@FT) May 29, 2025
The phrase immediately caught on, with both netizens and mainstream news publications embracing the nickname and plastering it all over headlines and social media posts.
HOLY. FUCKING. SKYWRITING.
Did someone seriously just smoke-write "TACO" in giant letters over Mar-a-Lago?! 💨🌮Like the heavens themselves got bored and decided to roast Trump from above.
This is legendary-level trolling. I can't breathe. 😂🔥 pic.twitter.com/HQ1wUL9mVk
— P a u l ◉ (@SkylineReport) May 29, 2025
Don't tell Donald Trump it's TACO Tuesday. 😂 pic.twitter.com/y3qzAiAfLH
— Jaybefaunt🏳️🌈 (@Jaybefaunt) June 3, 2025
Trump always chickens out.#TACO pic.twitter.com/qhAY01G7pg
— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) May 28, 2025
Some users on X got extremely inventive with their jabs at the president:
Donald "TACO" Trump performs his world famous "Trump Always Chickens Out" dance, at a wedding reception in Mar-a-Lago last night. pic.twitter.com/9YpsYxmVjy
— PaulleyTicks (@PaulleyTicks) May 29, 2025
Oh, and it’s safe to say that Trump himself isn’t exactly thrilled by the nickname. During a recent press conference, a journalist quizzed the president on the term, receiving a quintessentially Trump answer: “That’s a nasty question. To me, that’s the nastiest question.”
“Don’t ever say it!”: Trump
Today, Mr. President learned that Wall Street is calling his tariffs “TACO trade” (Trump Always Chickens Out)
BUY when Trump puts Tariffs
SELL when he Withdraws/ReducesMost successful trade this summer pic.twitter.com/dy7ITfJpRM
— Ayoosh (@ayooshveda) May 29, 2025
Despite Trump’s aversion to the phrase, its prevailing popularity can be easily measured once you take a look at Google search results over the past week or so.
CNN’s data reporter Harry Enten recently posted on X: “Trouble signs for Trump: he’s losing, at least temporarily, in court “a YUGE” amount (over 180 times… More than 50% of the time) -# 1 Googled word with Trump? TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). Searches are up 9,900%. Under 50% say Trump’s good at keeping campaign promises.”
Trouble signs for Trump: he's losing, at least temporarily, in court "a YUGE" amount (over 180 times… More than 50% of the time).
-# 1 Googled word with Trump? TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out). Searches are up 9,900%.
-Under 50% say Trump's good at keeping campaign promises pic.twitter.com/opFsNUuHaH
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) May 30, 2025
So, it’s pretty clear that the term TACO has resonated with a lot of US citizens. It has also prompted the Democrats to get rather creative with their bashing techniques.
On Tuesday 3 June 2025, it was reported that the Democratic National Convention (DNC) had plonked a (literal) taco truck smack bang outside of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) DC headquarters. While giving out free tacos might not seem like the most effective way to troll president Trump, I think we can all imagine how much this stunt would’ve bothered him.
A TACO truck is parked near the GOP HQ in DC LOL
Don't forget to subscribe: https://t.co/73TxSisDsL pic.twitter.com/FD5VYRom3G
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) June 3, 2025
The Taco Truck is campy but imo the only thing the DNC did wrong here is not stationing several trucks outside the White House so they’d draw huge crowds of tourists https://t.co/hlcPIp4XZo
— Challkuchimaq (@kevsaucebro) June 4, 2025
Vice President JD Vance was apparently rather vexed by the lunch station, taking to social media to write: “We have the lamest opposition in American history.” God forbid the DNC cares about nutrition?
We have the lamest opposition in American history. https://t.co/KdfaXgR11Y
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 3, 2025
TACO Trump will likely die out within the next couple of weeks, as all political memes do. However, we’ll remember it fondly, and look forward to all of the upcoming opportunities to make fun of the world’s most irritating man.