Donald J. Trump always assigns nicknames to his perceived adversaries. Still, Wall Street traders have one for the co-president over his repeated tariff spasms, which make the market dive, then come back after he inevitably caves. Trump's nickname is TACO, an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Australian economist Justin Wolfers appeared on MSNBC, telling Nicole Wallace that Trump's tariff policy “nearly lasted one entire long weekend.”
“He was a little unlucky," he said. "There was Memorial Day, which extended the weekend to three days, and you couldn’t have a tariff policy last a full weekend. So, Friday’s policy was reversed by Monday. And so, we get to analyze it today on Tuesday. And I think that’s really symptomatic."
Wolfers suggested that Donald's tariff threats aren't serious, seemingly because Trump is so predictable, and used Wall Street’s new favorite acronym as an example.
“In fact, on Wall Street right now, and it’s one level funny and another level tragic," he said. "There’s a trade called the TACO trade, T-A-C-O, Trump Always Chickens Out."
“There was a time when the president opened his mouth, when you had to pay attention because you thought it meant something, that it was a shift in policy that other countries could rely on and respond to," he added. "That’s no longer the case."
A Financial Times columnist coined the “TACO” trade, which is now being adopted by others. As MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell noted, this acronym has suddenly become popular.
Hey, MAGA, your hero is a big ass cowardly, tariff-tantruming chicken. He's been reduced to a TACO!
