'TACO' Acronym Goes Viral After U.S. Iran Action Delay

Overview

• The pejorative acronym TACO, short for 'Trump Always Chickens Out,' resurged online after the latest postponement of U.S. action toward Iran, triggering a wave of memes and AI images.
• Users on X shared montages that depicted Trump as a taco or a chicken and showed him serving tacos to Iranian leaders, turning the delay into a visual punchline.
• Iran said negotiations with the United States will begin Friday in Islamabad, a developing claim that places the online taunts against a backdrop of pending talks.
• G1 reported that Trump bristled when asked about the term, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was pulled into the back-and-forth as posts broadened their targets.
• The phrase traces to a Financial Times column and later use by an investment bank during tariff reversals, and Valor Econômico linked the revival to past episodes critics cite as similar retreats.