Camilla Jessen
President lashes out after being confronted with Wall Street’s tongue-in-cheek jab over his tariff strategy.
A live press conference at the White House on May 28 took a tense turn when CNBC reporter Megan Casella dropped a Wall Street nickname directly into the lap of President Donald Trump and the president didn’t take it well.
The term “T.A.C.O.” — short for “Trump Always Chickens Out” — has been gaining traction among financial analysts, who claim the president’s bombastic threats on tariffs often end with quiet walk-backs.
The acronym, originally coined by Financial Times journalist Robert Armstrong in a May 2 column, was intended as a playful jab at Trump’s negotiating style.
But when Casella confronted him with it, Trump didn’t see the humor.
“A Nasty Question”
“They’re saying ‘Trump Always Chickens Out’ on the tariff threats and that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?” Casella asked, as cited by Newsner.
Trump, appearing confused at first, asked, “I kick out?”
“Chicken out,” Casella clarified.
That’s when the mood shifted.
“I’ve never heard that,” Trump said before launching into a heated defense. “You ask a nasty question like that. It’s called negotiation.”
The president then pointed to his decision to postpone a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, as well as his delay on imposing a 50% tariff on EU imports — both moves that offered breathing room to financial markets but were interpreted by critics as retreats.
“I knew [the tariff] was too high,” Trump added. “But don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question.”
“Six Months Ago, This Country Was Stone-Cold Dead”
In a further attempt to reframe the narrative, Trump pivoted to broader claims about national recovery.
“Six months ago, this country was stone-cold dead. We had a country people didn’t think was gonna survive. And you ask a nasty question like that?” he said, escalating the rhetoric while refusing to engage directly with the T.A.C.O. label.
This isn’t the first time during his second term that Trump has snapped at members of the press.
On May 20, in another heated exchange — this time on Capitol Hill — he dismissed a NOTUS reporter asking about Republican Andy Harris’ critique of his legislative efforts.
“Who? I don’t even know what the hell that is. Get yourself a real job,” Trump snapped.