President Donald Trump is reportedly livid over a Wall Street nickname that traders are now using behind his back — and according to one top investment strategist, that anger could push him to double down on damaging tariffs just to prove people wrong.
The nickname is TACO, short for “Trump Always Chickens OUT.” It’s being used by investors who’ve seen the same pattern over and over again: Trump threatens big tariffs, the markets nosedive, then he pulls back — and stocks bounce back up.
Now, with the nickname spreading fast online and in financial circles, some believe Trump might follow through with new or higher tariffs just to silence the mockery.
“We think that, unfortunately, as the so-called TACO trade becomes more viral, it becomes more likely that Trump will stick to higher tariffs just to prove a point,” said Joachim Klement, strategist at Panmure Liberum, in an interview with Reuters.
The term started with Robert Armstrong, a columnist at the Financial Times, who used it to describe Trump’s failed “Liberation Day” in April. That’s when Trump talked tough on tariffs, spooked the markets, then reversed himself a week later and gave Wall Street a rally. Armstrong explained it like this:
“The US administration does not have a very high tolerance for market and economic pressure, and will be quick to back off when tariffs cause pain… This is the TACO theory: Trump Always Chickens Out.”
Trump didn’t know about the nickname at first. But when a reporter brought it up last week, he blew up.
“That’s a nasty question,” Trump said, visibly annoyed. “To me, that’s the nastiest question.”
“You call that chickening out? It’s called negotiation.”
The moment lit up social media, with AI-generated memes showing Trump in a chicken suit spreading fast. According to CNN, Trump was “caught off guard” and had no idea the TACO label was circulating. One White House official told the outlet,
“He thought the reporter was calling him a chicken.”
Another source said the president was angry that his own team didn’t tell him about it sooner.
“It clearly bothered him, primarily because it demonstrated a lack of understanding about how he actually utilizes those threats for leverage,” the person said. “But obviously he’s not a guy who looks kindly on weakness.”
The nickname hits at a sensitive time. A federal court just ruled that Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff policy — which mirrors tariffs from other countries — is unconstitutional. The court said he overstepped his authority. The White House has appealed, meaning the tariffs stay in place for now, but the long-term future of the policy is uncertain.
What is certain, at least to traders, is that Trump hates being called weak. And that could be enough to make him go overboard on tariffs — even if it rattles the markets again.
