In a fiery exchange that quickly went viral, President Donald Trump unloaded on CNBC’s Megan Casella after she brought up the term “TACO trade”—a jab coined by critics to suggest that “Trump Always Chickens Out” on tariff threats.
🚨 TRUMP FAKE NEWS SMACKDOWN: He has to explain Art of the Deal over and over again!
REPORTER: People say, ‘Trump always chickens out on his tariffs.’
TRUMP: “You ask a nasty question like that? It’s called NEGOTIATION.”
“Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a NASTY question.”… pic.twitter.com/JN0ehIEIa5
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 28, 2025
The moment came following a White House ceremony swearing in Jeanine Pirro as U.S. Attorney for D.C., when Casella attempted to needle the president with a quote from Wall Street analysts questioning the consistency of his aggressive tariff policies.
“Wall Street analysts have coined a term called the ‘TACO trade,’” Casella began. “They’re saying that Trump always chickens out on his tariff threats. What is your response to that?”
Trump, never one to shy away from confrontation, took a moment to digest the question—then pounced.
“Isn’t that nice? I chickened out? I’ve never heard that.”
He immediately launched into a detailed defense of his trade record, citing massive tariffs imposed on China and the European Union, and the billions in new investments those threats had reportedly triggered. He reminded reporters that he had raised China’s tariffs to 145%, and strategically lowered them as part of a broader negotiation strategy—one he insists delivered results that the Biden administration never could.
“We have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing, when Biden didn’t have practically anything. This country was dying.”
He also detailed the tariff threat on the EU, claiming his high-stakes posture forced leaders to come to the table.
“And they called up and they said, please, let’s meet right now… And I said, OK, I’ll give you until… July 9th?”
Trump’s voice grew sharper as he dismissed the TACO trade label as media spin and political theater, suggesting Casella’s question was meant more to provoke than to inform.
“It’s called negotiation. You set a number… if I set a number at a ridiculous high number and I go down a little bit… they want me to hold that number, 145 percent tariff.”
He concluded with a warning that was both personal and performative:
“Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question.”
Casella, for her part, appeared unfazed by the presidential dressing-down. She later commented that Trump calling her question “nasty” was a “badge of honor.”
The moment, however, exposed once again the political volatility of Trump’s tariff strategy and the deep divide in perception around it. Critics see retreats masked as deals; Trump and his supporters see strategic recalibrations that forced adversaries to the table and revived American industries.
The phrase “TACO trade” was first introduced by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong and has since been amplified by anti-Trump factions, including the Lincoln Project, as a critique of what they characterize as Trump’s tendency to backpedal on bold economic threats.
Trump chickened out on the tariffs. Again. He screwed over the market, is still raising prices and will cause product shortages all for nothing more than “continued conversations.”
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 12, 2025
But Trump’s takedown of the term may have backfired on critics—reminding supporters that even when he reduces tariffs, it’s part of a larger game aimed at real economic leverage, not ideological purity.
“We have the hottest country anywhere in the world,” Trump said, referring to the post-tariff economic recovery. “Six months ago, this country was stone-cold dead.”
