About

#TACO is a slang acronym that stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. The catchphrase TACO Trade gained traction in May 2025 after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly announced and delayed or repealed tariffs on several regions, including the European Union and China. Domestic and international stock traders began using the phrase "TACO" to describe Trump's tendency to walk back on policies that cause the markets to take a downturn, saying that they had begun incorporating and anticipating sharp market dips and hikes caused by Trump's policy announcements into their trading strategies. The term and catchphrase also spread online via memes in mid-2025.

Origin

On May 2nd, 2025, Financial Times^[1] (FT) columnist Robert Armstrong published an article titled, "The US market’s surprise comeback; And the rise of the ‘Taco’ trade theory." The article discusses the market crashes and rebounds seen after President Donald Trump announced his reciprocal tariffs in April 2025 and describes a theory gaining traction among stock traders: Trump Always Chickens Out, or TACO.

Terms like "TACO Monday," the "TACO factor" and "TACO rally" continued to gain traction in May 2025, with several notable financial commentators using the term, as seen in a May 12th, 2025, tweet by X^[2] user Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for FT. The tweet reads, "Reverse ferret on tariffs is an illustration of my colleague @rbrtrmstrng infallible Taco rule: Trump always chickens out."

Spread

On May 17th, 2025, Financial Times^[3] contributor Katie Martin published a piece titled, "The ‘Taco’ factor has spurred markets higher; The notion that Trump Always Chickens Out on difficult policy resulted in a strange, shaky rally."

Later that day, Redditor /u/Altruistic-Loan-2271 posted an AI-generated graphic to the subreddit /r/WallStreetbetsELITE, ^[4] mimicking and paraphrasing Katie Martin's article. The post gathered over 100 upvotes in two weeks.

Trump threatened the EU with a 50 percent tariff starting June 1st, 2025, in a Truth Social^[5] post on May 23rd, only to announce that he was delaying the tariffs until July 9th, 2025, in a subsequent Truth Social^[6] post from May 25th. This prompted several traders and financial commentators to highlight the Financial Times' "TACO" theory.

On May 28th, 2025, New York Times^[7] (NYT) journalist Shawn McCreesh reported on a journalist asking for Trump's feedback on the "TACO" theory, writing, "Trump erupted on a reporter for asking him about 'TACO,' a new term flying around Wall Street that stands for 'Trump Always Chickens Out.'"

The question was reportedly asked by CNBC reporter Mary Cassella. X^[10] user @Acyn posted a clip of President Trump answering the question on May 28th, 2025, receiving over 2.4 million views and 7,900 likes in a day.

Reporter: Wall Street analysts have a new term called the TACO trade.. Saying Trump always chickens out on tariffs…

Trump: I kick out?

Reporter: Chicken out.

Trump: I gave the E.U. a 50% tax tariff. They called up and said, please, let meet right now. You call that… pic.twitter.com/lPQK9iZ70d

— Acyn (@Acyn) May 28, 2025

The NYT blurb was reposted to X that same day by Robert Armstrong, the FT contributor who coined the acronym, gathering over 18,000 likes in a day.

On May 28th, 2025, X^[8] user @GalaxyPeaBrain then quoted the tweet with a graphic showing a Trump and Griffith from Berserk set against a red stock market graphic. The post gathered over 56,000 likes in a day.

Also on May 28th, X^[9] user @jdcmedlock quoted the post with a fake quote by billionaire American investor Warren Buffett that reads, "Freak the fuck out and panic sell everything right now. It's fucking over." The post gathered over 25,000 likes in a day.

Taco Fell Meme

On June 8th, 2025, President Donald Trump stumbled while climbing the stairs to Air Force One following a visit to New Jersey.^[11] Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was traveling with him, also appeared to trip while ascending the stairs to the plane. The stumble quickly went viral as it received press coverage and spawned memes in the following days.

The moment was memed similarly to when former President Joe Biden tripped on the stairs while boarding Air Force One in 2021.

In reference to the "TACO" memes surrounding Trump at the time, a viral edit of the Taco Bell logo depicting the scene with the fast-food chain's name altered to "Taco Fell" was widely reposted on June 9th. The earliest known upload of the meme was shared by Imgur^[12] user defrostedtauntaun that day, receiving over 760 upvotes and 40 comments in 22 hours.

The Taco Fell meme was then reposted to numerous sites, including the subreddit /r/politicalhumor,^[13] Instagram^[14] user @realdlhughley and the Facebook^[15] page People's Unity Project.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References