🚨 Reporter Calls Out Trump Over Tariff Bluff — "Trump Always Chickens Out" Goes Viral

A CNBC journalist invokes Wall Street’s new nickname for Trump’s trade policy retreats — sparking a fiery Oval Office meltdown

It finally happened: someone said the quiet part out loud — to Trump’s face.

During a tense press exchange at the White House on May 28, CNBC White House correspondent Megan Casella confronted Donald Trump with a term that’s been bouncing around Wall Street for weeks — TACO, short for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” The acronym, coined by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, mocks Trump’s increasingly transparent pattern: talk tough on tariffs, then retreat once the markets get nervous.

Casella referenced the phrase while asking about Trump’s latest backpedal — his abrupt pause on the 50% tariff threat against the European Union. Trump had previously blustered about hammering EU imports but extended the deadline after a private call with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Markets rose on the news, seemingly confident that Trump, once again, wouldn’t follow through.

Trump, visibly agitated, slammed the question as “nasty” and rejected the notion he was “chickening out,” insisting it was all part of a “brilliant” negotiation strategy. He didn’t seem too eager to embrace his new poultry-themed branding.

But the nickname stuck. Within minutes, social media lit up. Memes. Market blogs. Even finance bros in Patagonia vests were laughing about the TACO trade — betting that Trump’s bark is worse than his tariff bite.

And they may be right. Trump’s trade threats have been notoriously short-lived: the China tariffs rollback, the delayed Mexico sanctions, now this EU pivot. If his goal was to project strength, the TACO moment may have just cemented the opposite — a global image of bluff and backtrack.

Wall Street has a new rule of thumb. If Trump threatens a tariff, it might be time to buy… not brace.

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