TACO Trump Memes Are Popping up Online, but Many Want to Know What They Mean

If you've been paying even a small amount of attention to politics or the economy over the last few months, you're likely aware that President Trump has, at several points, instituted various tariff regimes. Almost every time one of those new regimes is implemented, though, Trump will eventually change it either because of a conversation with a foreign leader or because of the reactions of one market or another.

Trump's wishy-washiness on tariffs hasn't been great for the U.S. economy, and now, Wall Street apparently has a new acronym to describe the current state of affairs. Here's what we know about TACO Trump and what it means.

TACO is an acronym that describes Trump's behavior around tariffs. It stands for "Trump always chickens out," and refers to the fact that, even though he's instituted tariffs on several occasions, he has always eventually backed away from them. It took off in the mainstream after a reporter asked Trump a questioned about the expression, and Trump seemed furious in response.

"Don’t ever say what you said," Trump said in response.

Within hours, the internet was flooded with memes of Trump in a chicken suit or a taco costume, all of which reinforced the notion that Trump just wanted to seem tough on tariffs.

Robert Armstrong, a writer for the Financial Times, appears to have been the first to coin the term during a May 2 edition of his Unhedged newsletter. In the newsletter, he posited that Trump would always be reactive to various external pressures on tariffs.

“Regular readers will not be surprised by Unhedged’s view that the recent rally has a lot to do with markets realizing that the U.S. administration does not have a very high tolerance for market and economic pressure, and will be quick to back off when tariffs cause pain,” Armstrong wrote. “This is the Taco theory: Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Because it's a particularly catchy piece of branding, it might have been inevitable that TACO Trump would take off. The nickname has apparently become popular on Wall Street in the weeks since it was first coined, but it broke containment after a reporter finally asked Trump himself about the nickname. It probably doesn't help that it seems to have bothered him, either.

Of course, there's a distinct possibility that the nickname's circulation will provoke Trump into standing his ground more firmly on tariffs moving forward. Trump is not the kind of guy to take being made fun of lightly, even if Wall Street types are probably happier to have him back down on the tariffs than keep them in place.

TACO Trump is undeniably effective, though, and a reminder that Trump is not as all-powerful as he might sometimes want to appear. He is susceptible to market pressures especially, because he knows that cratering the economy is a good way to become deeply unpopular.