Donald Trump is a huge fan of acronyms, memes, and nasty nicknames — unless they’re being used against him. While people have been calling the president “TACO” since early May, he only learned this weeks later when a reporter asked him about the moniker live on camera. Trump was visibly rattled, and he reportedly berated his team for not warning him about the new term.

“TACO” usage fell off considerably by the end of last year. But Trump’s Greenland deal just brought it back to life. Stocks tumbled as the president ramped up his Greenland-related bullying, which included a threat to impose new tariffs on European nations. Then on January 21, 2026 he announced the “framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland,” that seemed to fall far short of his demand for a “Complete and Total purchase” of the Arctic island. The New York Times reported that after the deal was announced in Davos, some World Economic Forum attendees “texted their peers a single word: ‘Taco!’”

So what’s the meaning of TACO? Who coined the term? Does this have anything to do with the infamous Trump taco-bowl tweet? Here’s what you need to know, whether you’re a curious observer or a president surprised to discover everyone’s laughing at you once again.

It’s an acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” It originally referred to Trump’s pattern of making big tariff threats, then backing off when markets tumble. (Trump reversed himself on tariffs an incredible 28 times between April 2 and July 14, according to Forbes’s running tally.)

Now the term has gained popularity beyond the finance world; it has been applied to everything from Trump’s stance on Russia sanctions to his flip-flopping on immigration policy.

Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong coined the term in the May 2, 2025 edition of his “Unhedged” newsletter. He used the phrase to describe how stocks plunged when Trump initially announced his extreme “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, 2025 then rebounded later in the month after the president responded to the market panic by easing or delaying various tariffs. Armstrong wrote:

How to make sense of stocks rallying, spreads tightening and gold falling — while oil and yields are telling you that the growth outlook continues to get worse?

Regular readers will not be surprised by Unhedged’s view that the recent rally........

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