Tim O’Brien is senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion News. He writes here about why it is dangerous to call Trump “TACO Trump,” a moniker given to him by Robert Armstrong of the Financial Times.
TACO means “Trump Always Chickens Out.” It refers to his brash statements about draconian tariffs, followed by his usual backing down and deferring them. It happened on “Liberation Day,” April 2, it happened with his shakedown of Canada and Mexico, then his latest occurred when he announced 50% tariffs on the EU and the very next day, postponed them until July 9.
O’Brien writes about Trump’s huge and fragile ego. Although he evaded the draft when he was draft-eligible, he needs to be perceived as strong, tough, fearless, and fierce. A super-hero. A warrior. A man with nerves of steel.
O’Brien has a long history with Trump. In 2006, he wrote a book about Trump called TrumpNation. In the book, he said that Trump was not a billionaire, that he was worth only $150-200 million. Trump sued him for $10 billion for defamation. The suit was tossed out in 2009.
Being called “chicken” makes Trump very angry, O’Brien says.
“That’s a nasty question,” he told a reporter who asked about the TACO moniker at a White House press briefing on Wednesday. “Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question. … To me, that’s the nastiest question.”
Trump, who fashions himself a brilliant dealmaker and strategist despite ample evidence to the contrary, is, of course, always going to bristle at the notion that he is a chicken — and a predictable one at that. He also routinely peddles himself as an infallible winner, so the nastiest question is also one that speculates about whether he’s mired in a losing streak. His tariff policy, unleashed on allies and competitors alike, has been rolled out on a seesaw and riddled with economically damaging ineptitude.
O’Brien says we must prepare for a Trumpian show of force. He must show the world that he is no chicken. Not Putin’s puppet! Not a chicken! Tough! Strong! Never chicken!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Trump is no different than any common school yard bully. Trump turns and runs when he is backed into a corner. Bullies turn and run when cornered.
But, who will be paying the price over the many years to come for TACO’s bullying tactics — the citizens of the United States. Our children and grandchildren will be paying for many years to come because of his tactics. Like a school yard bully, Trump will walk away becoming wealthy off the US taxpayers and not look back on all the destruction he has created by his mindless senseless narcissist way of doing things.
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Yes. A very dangerous time for our country & the world while this petty, insecure little man burns over NOT “winning”. He is so thin-skinned & vindictive that we all need to worry about what he may do to save face & project toughness. Let’s just hope someone in his inner circle can temper his desire to avenge everyone who has slighted him.
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Yes. A very dangerous time for our country & the world while this petty, insecure little man burns over NOT “winning”. He is so thin-skinned & vindictive that we all need to worry about what he may do to save face & project toughness. Let’s just hope someone in his inner circle can temper his desire to avenge everyone who has slighted him.
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Should we say, “Trump is a chicken” or Trump is chicken?
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At my friend Omar’s restaurant, you can get taquitos Mexicanos, which is s chicken fish prepared in a very good way, always accompanied by pico de gallo. Since it galls Trump to hear it, we should call him Taco de gallo. But I would probably chicken out.
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Too funny, Roy!
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Since I first heard the acronym TACO, I didn’t think it worked like WOKE and MAGA does. I like tacos, the kind we eat, so why come up with that acronym to insult Trump since it might backfire?
“O’Brien says we must prepare for a Trumpian show of force. He must show the world that he is no chicken. Not Putin’s puppet! Not a chicken! Tough! Strong! Never chicken!”
Trump said Mexico was sending people bringing crime and “rapists” across the border into the United States.
The taco in its earliest forms are believed to have been consumed by indigenous peoples in Mexico long before the arrival of the Spanish.
Trump is a hard-core racist, so being compared to people he thinks are inferior and has called criminals and rapists, is also an insult directed at Trump by sort of throwing his lies in his face.. Calling Trump a TACO also infers that Trump is the rapist. I don’t know how many will figure that out since it is overt instead of covert.
Speaking truth that “Trump Always Chickens Out” is a double blow. He knows he is a coward.
To answer my aquestion, why, I think some deep thought went into using TACO like they did to trigger the convicted rapist, fraud, felon, and January 6, 2021 racist to do something that will lose him more votes and followers, because the only way Cadet Bone Spurs can prove he isn’t a coward, is to act tough, ignoring any advice he might get that doing that will blow up on him, which means, they want Trump to lose it and dig a deeper hole to bury him in.
The family crime lord thinks like a Mafia Don. What do Mafia Don’s do when a rival gang threatens their power?
They go to the matresses.
In The Godfather, “going to the mattresses” is a phrase used to describe a Mafia family’s preparation for war or a period of intense conflict. It specifically refers to them renting out apartments and having their soldiers sleep on mattresses in those apartments, essentially creating temporary, hidden headquarters to prepare for conflict.
To prove he isn’t a coward, Trump may end up doing something really stupid that makes him more unpopular than he already is.
That is the goal.
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Silly me! I thought Trump pledged to deport criminals, the”worst of the worst.” Now I see ICE is hauling away graduate students, restaurant workers, high school students, ordinary people minding their own business.
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Small hands = taquitos
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hah!
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I don’t know whats the matter with the people on this Blog who call Trump TACO . Peter Navaro the genius behind Trump’s trade policy will save the Nation. Even Krugman thinks so!. I think Trump should follow through on all his threats. I hope I don’t have to explain. Hint #1 , 58% of cars manufactured in this Country are sold overseas . The Buyers are Canada followed by Mexico , Germany and then China.
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Joel,
What’s hint #2?
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There will be no attack on Pear Harbor bringing (an) America into a war on Fascism. The best we can hope for is the total economic disaster this moron can create….The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that it was cutting back on Data collection for the CPI report. If you were a Federal Worker would you release any long term data that is unfavorable to the Mad King? So we may not be able to trust Gov Data in the future…. I argued parroting Dean Baker; that the Media tanked Joe Biden with their economic reporting that ignored Government Data . And ignored what people were actually doing. Spending on discretionary items from Travel and Restaurants to Electronic toys like crazy. So they told pollsters that they were fine but the economy sucked somewhere other than where they lived….. When unemployment goes up , when prices go they wont need the talking head to know it. It will be reflected in cutbacks in spending which further hurt the economy. Hint number 2 Weekly Job openings are already the lowest they have been since the Pandemic . Employers may not have started laying off yet but they are already cutting back on hiring plans.
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