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Investing.com -- On a humid Wednesday afternoon in Washington, the White House press room buzzed with anticipation. President Trump was swearing in Jeanine Pirro when CNBC reporter Megan Cassella took the mic. Her question was sharp, surgical, and soaked in meme-worthy bait: “Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the TACO trade. They’re saying Trump always chickens out on your tariff threats, and that’s why markets are higher this week. What’s your response to that?”
The room froze. Cameras clicked. The internet, already primed with taco-themed gifs and sarcastic headlines, exploded. Within minutes, “#TACOTrump” was trending globally. Edits of the President wearing a sombrero or riding a chicken over Wall Street flooded TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and Reddit. Financial analysts chimed in with threads explaining how every tariff scare seemed to trigger a dip, then a rally, leading many to buy the fear, assuming Trump would back off.
Trump’s instinct had always been to project strength, especially when publicly challenged. The “TACO” label wasn’t just a market meme; it was a direct hit to his brand.
Now, analysts are worried that Trump may overcompensate to make sure the TACOTrump label doesn’t stick.
“Given Trump’s public ire against previous court rulings and the press questions on May 28 around the ’TACO’ narrative, we would not be surprised to see a meaningful tariff escalation/response from the White House sooner rather than later,” TD Cowen’s Chris Krueger said on Thursday. "Trump reaction function could be strong, to quite strong."
By Friday, a new tone had already emerged as Trump lashed out at China out of nowhere. Trump posted a Truth message this morning: “China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!”
As Krueger points out, Newton’s third law, the idea that for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction, isn’t just for physics. For Trump, the psychological battlefield of politics and perception, ridicule can provoke a retaliatory response.
Cassella, for her part, didn’t expect her question to become the matchstick. She later told colleagues that the fact that Trump called her question “nasty” is a “badge of honor”. However, her inquiry and the ensuing meme frenzy may have shifted the trajectory of U.S. trade policy.
The question now hanging over markets isn’t whether he’ll back off—it’s whether this time, the need to look tough outweighs the usual economic caution.
And if so, the TACO trade, once a reliable playbook, might become a cautionary tale of how mixing Trump, ridicule, and meme culture can collide with policy in unexpected, Newtonian ways.