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After a pair of court rulings rejected Donald Trump’s agenda on trade tariffs, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared, “It’s raining tacos today.”
The Democratic governor’s short and simple comment was a timely reminder of a rhetorical phenomenon that has gained traction with extraordinary speed.
It was just a few days ago when The New York Times published a headline — on Page 3 of Section B — that read, “Stocks Rally on the ‘TACO Trade.’” The accompanying article was principally about Wall Street climbing after Trump delayed his announced tariffs on the European Union, but it also included this explanation:
Stock markets jumped on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest gain in weeks. ... They also talked about tacos. Or rather, the ‘TACO’ trade, which is short for Trump Always Chickens Out. The tongue-in-cheek term, coined by [Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong], has been adopted by some to describe the pattern in which markets tumble after Mr. Trump makes tariff threats, only to rebound just as sharply when he relents and gives countries more time to negotiate deals.
A day later, at an Oval Office event, a reporter asked the president for his response. Trump was not only visibly furious, he also demanded that no one ever ask him about the subject again — seemingly indifferent to the fact that journalists don’t work for him and have no reason to honor his demands.
If the Republican’s goal was to quash the “TACO” talk, his angry reaction has had the opposite of the intended effect.
In fact, Trump’s critics — from the governor’s office in California to prominent political commentators — have embraced the label with enthusiasm. The MeidasTouch Network even published an online item featuring the “13 Best TACO Trump Memes.”
Part of the appeal of the “TACO” framing is that it’s rooted in undeniable facts: For too long, Trump has talked tough and thumped his chest, made disruptive and destabilizing announcements, only to slink away when forced to deal with the consequences of his irresponsibility. The origin of the acronym might have been in response to the president’s approach to tariffs, but given his record of backing down under pressure, the label has a broader applicability.
Or put another way, it’s funny because it’s true: He really does always chicken out.
But there’s another dimension to this. As The Bulwark’s Jonathan Last noted, one of the reasons “TACO” is sticking is that “it’s organic.” Last added, “No Democratic strategist came up with TACO.”
Quite right. Sometimes good ideas come by way of focus groups, market research or some combination of strategists and influencers, but there’s something to be said for ideas that gain traction organically because they’re clever and effective.