Fox News hosts launched a vigorous defense of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, June 3, after Democrats began mocking him with the acronym “TACO,” which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out,” in reference to his pattern of backing down from tariff threats when markets react negatively.
The controversy began when Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong coined the term in his May 2 newsletter to describe Trump’s approach to trade policy. Wall Street traders quickly adopted the acronym to describe what they saw as Trump’s tendency to retreat from aggressive tariff positions when stock markets tumbled.
Trump’s sensitivity to the insult became apparent during a White House press conference on May 28, when a reporter asked him about the Wall Street term. The president initially misheard the question, thinking the reporter said “kick out,” but became visibly agitated when she clarified that traders were using “TACO” to suggest he “chickens out” on tariffs. Trump called it a “nasty question” and told the reporter never to use that phrase again.
Democrats seized on Trump’s defensive reaction, with Representative Eric Swalwell of California posting a video on TikTok showing him eating a taco while an aide asked about Trump’s tariff reversals. The Democratic National Committee reportedly planned to hire a taco truck to serve free food outside Republican headquarters in Washington to further mock the president.
Fox News hosts responded with multiple segments defending Trump from the criticism. On Tuesday’s edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy dismissed the Democratic response as propaganda and argued that Trump could not be characterized as cowardly. She referenced the assassination attempt on Trump during his campaign, stating that “he is the bravest man in the world.”
Campos-Duffy, whose husband Sean Duffy serves as Trump’s Transportation Secretary, characterized the TACO acronym as a “cringey response” from Democrats. She argued that having to explain the acronym indicated it was not an effective political attack, and suggested that Americans recognized Trump’s courage from his reaction to being shot at a Pennsylvania rally.
Fox co-host Brian Kilmeade blamed The Wall Street Journal for originating coverage of the TACO term, claiming the newspaper was “at war with the president when it comes to tariffs.” Both Fox News and The Wall Street Journal are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Other Fox News personalities joined the defense effort. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich appeared on the show to reject the nickname, arguing that Trump “almost always wins” and citing his endurance through various investigations and legal challenges. Host Greg Gutfeld attempted to dismiss the insult by noting that Americans “like tacos,” suggesting the food association would not resonate negatively.
The TACO phenomenon grew beyond Wall Street circles throughout May, with the term appearing in mainstream news headlines and social media memes. Late-night talk show hosts and liberal influencers on TikTok began using the acronym to mock Trump’s trade policies. Some social media users created AI-generated images depicting Trump as a chicken or taco to accompany their posts.
According to CNN reporting, Trump was reportedly frustrated not only by the term itself but also by his staff’s failure to warn him about its growing popularity before the press conference. A senior White House official indicated that Trump was particularly bothered because he felt the characterization demonstrated a misunderstanding of how he uses tariff threats as negotiating leverage.
Armstrong told NPR on May 30 that he created the acronym as a practical shorthand for discussing Trump’s trade approach in his newsletter, not as a political insult. However, the term quickly evolved beyond its original financial context as it spread across social media platforms and entered mainstream political discourse. The New York Times eventually ran a headline about “Stocks Rally on the ‘TACO Trade,'” indicating the term’s widespread adoption in financial reporting.
