Connect with us

News

‘Meltdown’: Trump Fumes When Confronted With ‘Always Chickens Out’ Claim

Published

on

President Donald Trump’s tariff policy has been highly criticized, especially for his seemingly arbitrary, up and down, in-effect and paused actions, which have led the stock markets to rise and fall—providing little stability or reassurance to manufacturers and investors alike.

“Traders are loading up and dumping stocks based on Trump’s erratic approach to announcing tariffs and then retreating on them,” The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

McGill University Associate Professor Robert Rutledge, an astrophysicist, on Tuesday posted a screenshot from a New York Times article titled, “Stocks Rally on the ‘TACO Trade’,” which explained the phenomenon.

During Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony of Trump’s interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., former Fox host Jeanine Pirro, a reporter confronted the president with remarks from analysts who have dubbed his tactics “TACO,” or, “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

READ MORE: University Research OK Only if ‘In Sync’ With Trump Goals: Top Administration Officials

“Mr. President,” a reporter said (video below), “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?”

After some back-and-forth, the President admitted, “I’ve never heard that,” before growing defensive.

“You mean because I reduced China from 145%, that I set down to 100% and then down to another number, and I said, ‘You have to open up your whole country.’ And because, I gave the European Union a 50% tax tariff, and they called up, and they said, ‘Please, let’s meet right now. Please, let’s meet right now.'”

Trump claimed that “after I did what I did, they said, ‘We’ll meet anytime you want.'” And we have an end date of July 9th. You call that chickening out?”

He then lashed out at his predecessor, President Joe Biden, for not imposing high tariffs.

“Because we have $14 trillion now invested, committed to investing, when Biden didn’t have practically anything, Trump claimed, although there are few actual, finalized agreements.

“Biden, this country was dying,” Trump continued. “You know, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. I went to Saudi Arabia. The king told me. He said, ‘You got the hottest—We have the hottest country in the world right now.'”

READ MORE: Why Does Congress ‘Even Exist?’: GOP Representative Blasted at ‘Hostile’ Town Hall

“Six months ago, this country was stone cold dead,” Trump alleged. “We had a dead country.”

“We had a country people didn’t think it was gonna survive, and you ask a nasty question like that?” he said, attacking the reporter. “It’s called ‘negotiation.’  You set a number. And if you go down, you know set a number at

After explaining his China policy, he again attacked, telling the reporter, “don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question.”

“For me, that’s the nastiest question.”

Economist Justin Wolfers on Tuesday explained some of the ramifications of “TACO.”

“Those truck drivers … won’t have goods to truck across the country, they also won’t be stopping a gas stations to buy a sandwich. And then the sandwich demand falls off and on and on it goes. But I think it’s actually the effects are far deeper than that,” Wolfers explained.

“There’s an asset here that really matters called ‘American credibility.’ There was a time when the President opened his mouth when you had to pay attention, because you thought it meant something, that it was a shift in policy that other countries could rely on and respond to. That’s no longer the case.”

After specifically mentioning TACO, Wolfers continued with more examples. He noted, for example, “there’s a factory that could be built, except that one of the most important imports we get from the European Union is precision machinery. And that either just went up 50% or went up 10%, but no one can be sure.”

Critics blasted the President for his Oval Office remarks.

Democratic strategist Keith Edwards mocked Trump, saying that he “just learned Wall Street is calling his tariffs ‘TACO trade’ (‘Trump Always Chickens Out’) — and you have to watch his meltdown.”

The political action committee Really American called it “an insane moment,” noting that Trump had “a complete meltdown.”

“What’s hilarious about this whole thing is there has to be people in the admin who know about this stuff and everyone is afraid to tell him bad news,” noted Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko. ” So we get to see him lose his s— for the first time live on tv.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Paratroopers May Deliver Gift to Trump at Army’s 250th Birthday Parade

 

Image via Reuters

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘You’re a Loser Dude’: Carville Scorches Trump as ‘Done’

Published

on

James Carville, the veteran political consultant, blasted President Donald Trump after Democrats had another strong showing in Tuesday night’s elections.

In several contests — including Miami’s mayoral race, where the Democrat won by a wide margin — Democrats overperformed, continuing the streak they’ve had for much of the entire year. According to elections news site Bolts, Democrats “flipped 21 percent of all the GOP-held seats that were on the ballot throughout 2025.”

“He’s done,” Carville said of Trump on Wednesday’s Politics War Room podcast. “We just got to butter this toast and slice it and eat it. He’s done.”

READ MORE: ‘Special Kind of Delusion’: Top Democrat Mocks Trump ‘Train Wreck’

“He’s done in Florida,” Carville continued. “He’s done in Pennsylvania. He’s done in New Jersey. He’s done in Virginia. He’s done in Mississippi. He was done in Georgia. He’s done.”

“It’s over. You’re a loser, dude,” Carville declared. “You’re losing everywhere. And you’re gonna lose more, because you, my friend, are a loser.”

The Democratic pundit began the segment by saying that Trump is “trying to argue that you’re not feeling what you’re feeling.”

“But understand this. People are seeing this and people are voting on this. Understand that. He’s not getting away with it. He’s caught onto. He’s not getting away with it. He’s paying for it. And he’s gonna continue to pay for it.”

“And we got to stop looking at him as some kind of political Svengali, a political Houdini, or anything like that.”

READ MORE: ‘His Heart Just Ain’t in It’: Report Reveals Trump’s ‘Achilles Heel’

Continue Reading

News

‘Special Kind of Delusion’: Top Democrat Mocks Trump ‘Train Wreck’

Published

on

Tuesday night was the first stop on President Donald Trump’s new affordability messaging tour, but it was a “train wreck,” U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

Trump may have read all his lines at his Pennsylvania rally, but he also ad-libbed a lot, mocking the affordability crisis in America as a “hoax.”

Leader Schumer on Wednesday told his Senate colleagues that Trump “simply doesn’t get what people are struggling through,” because he’s “trapped in his billionaire bubble.”

READ MORE: How Trump Could Try to Undermine the 2026 Elections — and Fail: Columnist

“It takes a special kind of delusion to tell parents to buy their kids fewer toys and pencils while bragging about new ballrooms and gold in the Oval Office,” the New York Democratic lawmaker explained.

“In his speech, that was supposed to be about affordability, Donald Trump kept making fun of the word ‘affordability,'” Schumer noted. “Does he have to go shop for groceries and not be able to buy the things his family needs?”

The Democratic Leader explained that the president doesn’t understand what it’s like when your car gets damaged in an accident, “and you don’t have money for the deductible, and you don’t have a car.”

“People are struggling,” Schumer said. “They can’t afford basic needs, and Donald Trump keeps making fun of it by calling it all a giant hoax. But Americans know affordability is not a hoax. They see it as very real every time they go to the grocery store, pay their bills, pay the rent.”

A recent poll found that 77% of Americans concerned about the economy and inflation believe the president is not spending enough time managing those problems.

READ MORE: ‘His Heart Just Ain’t in It’: Report Reveals Trump’s ‘Achilles Heel’

“What was Donald Trump’s solution to affordability?” Senator Schumer asked. “Well, last night, Trump said parents should buy their kids fewer dolls for Christmas. We’re not talking about fewer dolls for Christmas. We’re talking about necessities like food. Like medicine. Like fixing your car when it gets damaged.”

A just released Politico poll found that “Half of those surveyed said they find it difficult to pay for food. And a majority, 55 percent, blame the Trump administration for the high prices.”

Schumer continued to blast Trump, noting that he “said kids at school should have fewer pencils. And then he repeated his favorite, that his favorite word was tariffs. What kind of world does he live in? Does he understand that these tariffs are raising prices? Through the roof?”

Schumer also pointed to Trump’s Politico interview this week — where the president gave himself an “A+++++” on the economy — and warned that “the American people are giving him an F.”

“Over the last year, the price of beef has gone up at the grocery store by 20%,” Schumer noted. “That’s an F. Today, Americans pay 40% more for a single cup of coffee on their way to work than they did last year. That’s an F. People are paying more on electricity bills while Donald Trump has cut domestic energy jobs. That’s a massive F.”

“The final grade, big fat F. In no universe does Donald Trump deserve anywhere close to an A, or a B, or even a C, for his job on the economy.”

READ MORE: ‘Reality Problem’: Columnist Says Trump ‘Isn’t Even Trying’ to Honor His Promises

 

Image via Reuters

 

Continue Reading

News

How Trump Could Try to Undermine the 2026 Elections — and Fail: Columnist

Published

on

The Atlantic’s David Frum sat down with Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center at New York University, to discuss how President Donald Trump and his administration might try to undermine the 2026 midterm elections, and what is in place that could prevent them from succeeding.

“What can a president and a party that is still in control of Congress do to bend things their way?” Frum asked.

“Well,” Waldman replied, “there is much they can do to try to undermine the way the system works, but there are limits as well.”

“I want to stress that,” he added, “in each of these areas, there are things that can be attempted, and there are potentially effective pushbacks that can make sure that the election actually does happen, as we would hope it happens, where the voters, however they choose, get the last word.”

READ MORE: ‘His Heart Just Ain’t in It’: Report Reveals Trump’s ‘Achilles Heel’

But Waldman also warned Frum that “for the first time, I think, in American history, the federal government and the Trump administration are actively waging an effort to undermine the 2026 elections.”

“One thing that President Trump has tried to do already,” Waldman noted, “is to take personal control of the election system.”

Frum and Waldman discussed several activities Trump and his administration have tried, could try, or are trying, including issuing an executive order requiring passports as ID to vote — which the courts blocked. Similar legislation, requiring a passport or birth certificate to vote, passed the House but stalled in the Senate (the SAVE Act).

There is also the purging of federal election security experts, the weaponization of law enforcement, the use of federal agents — including, for instance, ICE and CBP near polling locations — and the use of the courts.

“When Congress blocked the SAVE Act,” Waldman noted, “the president put out another, rather, another post on social media saying, ‘I’m going to do an executive order ending vote by mail.'” Paraphrasing the president, he suggested that Trump claimed, “I’m gonna do this, and, by the way, the state election officials are merely agents who work for the president, and their job is merely to count the votes as agents for the president.”

“They are threatening to use the tools of law enforcement to scare off people in the election machinery,” Waldman explained.

READ MORE: ‘Reality Problem’: Columnist Says Trump ‘Isn’t Even Trying’ to Honor His Promises

Frum warned that National Guard troops, for example, operating near polling locations, could “detain” people for a few hours, “at least until after the polls close.”

“Those are known as ‘Kavanaugh stops,'” Waldman interjected, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court justice.

There is also the use of gerrymandering and the possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will further gut the Voting Rights Act, they noted.

On gerrymandering, Waldman explained, “sometimes, if the voters have what’s called a wave election, where people are all rushing to the polls to vote, you know, their opposition to the current party in power, it can actually not only not have the desired impact, it can actually create more victories for the other party. That is, in technical terms, called a ‘dummymander.'”

Waldman noted that the Trump administration may be trying many different things to sow doubt about free and fair elections.

He said, “ultimately … they are trying to stir doubt, and create a cloud of suspicion, to make it easier, should there be, you know, the opportunity to push election officials and others to cave.”

READ MORE: ‘Appearance of Quid Pro Quo’: Sotomayor Confronts GOP Lawyer in Campaign Finance Argument

 

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.