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On Wall Street, 'TACO Trade' Meme Mocks Trump -- And He's Pissed

President Donald Trump went on quite the emotional journey Wednesday after a reporter informed him that the financial community has coined a new term for dealing with his chaotic tariff threats: the “TACO trade,” which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out.

The revelation followed an Oval Office ceremony to swear in bottled-water tantrum thrower and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Washington.

“Oh, isn’t that nice—I chickened out. I never heard that,” Trump responded, seemingly unaware that his trade “strategy” of bluster followed by retreat is being mocked by the very finance bros he seeks approval from.

Trump worked himself up into a lather trying to defend his wounded ego, bragging that he is opening China and characterizing his latest capitulation to the European Union after threatening 50 percent tariffs as strategic.

“We have the hottest country in the world right now,” Trump said, quoting an alleged compliment from the king of Saudi Arabia. “Six months ago, this country was stone cold, dead. We had a dead country.”

A still rambling Trump proceeded to admit that he had to reduce his crazy high proposed tariff rates after realizing, “Wow, that's high.” It isn’t the first time that Trump has confessed to making up numbers when blabbing out misguided policies.

Trump closed with one of his routine attacks on the free press, admonishing the reporter who hurt his feelings by telling him the truth.

“But don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question,” he whined. “To me that’s the nastiest question.”

That query was the least nasty thing about being in a room where Pirro had just been sworn in for anything other than a deposition.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Desperate For 'Deals,' Trump Hypes Tiny UK Trade Agreement

Americans are struggling with price increases and economic uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the situation remains unchanged after Trump announced a supposed “deal” with the United Kingdom on Thursday.

“Together with our strong Ally, the United Kingdom, we have reached the first, historic Trade Deal since Liberation Day,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. In another post he characterized the announcement as “full and comprehensive.”

But almost immediately, Trump’s political spin began to fall apart when compared to the facts.

The so-called “deal” will keep in place the blanket 10 percent tariffs that Trump imposed across the world with America’s trading partners, with exceptions for some luxury goods.

Trump got a public relations boost from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who highlighted the agreement announcement coinciding with Victory in Europe Day, the day in which the Allies won victory in Europe in World War II. Trump is an antisemite who allies himself with right-wing racists and who praised Nazis as “very fine people.”

In contrast to Trump’s grandiose claims, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins admitted to Fox Business, “It is an agreement in concept. There’s a lot of details to be worked out.”

Economist Justin Wolfers of the University of Michigan threw cold water on the announcement preemptively on Wednesday night during an appearance on CNN.

The United Kingdom is “our eleventh largest trading partner. They account for three, count them 1-2-3, percent of American trade,” he explained, noting that the agreement kept 97% of U.S. trade “up in the air.”

Wolfers also noted that the average tariff levied by the U.K. on goods is one percent, meaning that in the best-case scenario Trump had shifted the tariff from one percent to zero.

On social media Wolfers concluded, “The US is a high tariff country for the foreseeable future, and the trade war continues.”

“About two percent of our imports come from Great Britain. So put me down as kind of skeptical that there is much there there,” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said in a CNN appearance on Thursday responding to the announcement. Wyden went on to note that farmers and small businesses in his home state are “hurting” because of Trump’s trade actions.

The agreement also included a carve out for luxury car brands like Rolls Royce and Jaguar, which stood in stark contrast to Trump’s recent demands that American children be deprived of dolls due to his tariffs.

The U.S. conducts just under $150 billion in trade with the U.K. By contrast, the U.S. Trade Representative notes that trade between the U.S. and the European Union is worth $975 billion while trade with China is at $580 billion. Those entities have not bent to Trump despite the tariffs he has imposed on them, which are being passed on to U.S. consumers.

In fact, the European Commission said on Thursday it plans to file an international trade dispute with America at the World Trade Organization, characterizing the Trump tariffs as actions that “blatantly violate fundamental WTO rules.” The commission also said it was considering $107 billion in tariffs on American goods—which would hurt efforts by American companies to sell products overseas.

Consumers are still dealing with increased costs for many goods, including flowers, board games, and toys among other consumer staples. Trump’s announcement with the U.K. was meant to create a splash in the news about a policy that most Americans detest, while the tariffs —and corruption affiliated with tariffs—continues unchecked.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

How Trump May Use Trade Chaos For Illegal Gain

You can get rich when stocks go up. You can get rich when stocks go down. When stocks go up, people who knew to buy them in advance may win big. If they go down, investors who had the wisdom to "go short" on them — that is, bet on their decline — can make a bundle.

Clearly, anyone who can predict what stock prices would do can make magnificent profits. And who knew that Donald Trump was about to announce market-moving plans for bigger tariffs, then smaller tariffs, then sideways tariffs, then tariff delays?

Trump knew.

It happens that trading stocks or other investments based on insider information, whether by a corporate executive or government official, is highly illegal. Trump and any confidants who got wind of what he was about to say on tariffs could have made fortunes buying or selling on that information.

Were Trump and friends engaging in such fraud? So far no one has presented direct evidence that Trump's whiplash statements and contradictory actions on tariffs are part of a ploy to manipulate stock prices. But I did ask a conservative banker friend whether he thought insiders were trading on all this tariff chaos. His answer: "I have absolutely no doubt about it."

A number of factors strongly hint that this could be going on.

Hint number one is that if one believes Trump's vows to move forward on tariffs, none of this makes sense. Nearly every economist holds that reckless tariffs will crash the economy. As a negotiating tactic, what have these gyrations produced? Pathetically little.

Example: Trump slapped 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico at midnight, March 4. Stock prices tumbled. Hours later, his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump might reconsider. Trump then announces a one-month delay on some tariffs. Stocks jumped.

U.S. automakers rely on parts from Mexico and Canada to make their vehicles less expensive and easier to sell. Trump "explained" that the American companies could use the month to move that production back to the United States.

Let's cut to the chase: Vehicle makers couldn't build new parts factories in just a month even if they wanted to. But gosh, what a good time insiders could have trading on their pain.

Hint number two is that Trump is firing ethics watchdogs that would call attention to illegal stock manipulation. The Department of Justice, for one, is supposed to prosecute government officials for insider trading. Trump just gave the No. 2 position at DOJ to Todd Blanche, who was his personal criminal defense lawyer.

Trump did a mass firing of inspectors general, some of whom investigate insider trading by government officials. He didn't even give Congress the 30-days' notice required by law.

Hint number three is that Trump simply loves a good scam. It matters not whether the victims are students at his university, investors in his bankrupt casinos or his fans.

Some may recall how the Trump Rebate Banking System suckered sad members of his cult. TRB sold such items as "Trump Bucks," "Trump coins" and membership cards on the false claim they would become legal tender in a future monetary system.

As things now stand, a big chunk of North American trade remains exposed to tariffs. That means Trump has much opportunity to play more tariff games with friendly countries, U.S. workers, manufacturers and ordinary investors.

The time has long passed for Americans to dismiss the idea that Trump's yo-yo "trade policy" is a simple matter of indecision. They should ask whether it involves, or even revolves around, an insider trading scheme benefiting Trump and his consorts. Does anyone have a better explanation for it?

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

Inflation Ticks Up -- And Trump Tariffs Will Make It Worse

In January, inflation rose three percent from a year earlier, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Wednesday, making for the biggest one-month increase since August 2023 and a warning sign for President Donald Trump.

Last month’s inflation was higher than economists expected, with the cost of shelter, food, and gasoline driving the price increases. In fact, the BLS said that the price of eggs alone rose 15.2 percent in January, amounting to “the largest increase in the eggs index since June 2015.”

Inflation rose even though Trump promised he would lower costs “immediately” upon taking the White House, saying at the Republican National Convention in July, "I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately, bring down interest rates, and lower the cost of energy—we will drill, baby, drill. … But by doing that, we will lead a large-scale decline in prices."

It was an absurd promise to make in the first place, but it’s one that experts say will age poorly. The ten percent tariff that Trump is imposing on China—as well as the 25 percent tariffs currently on pause for Mexico and Canada)—and the new 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are expected to exacerbate price increases.

“This is a warning for President Trump and his team as they ready hefty tariffs,” Washington Post economics columnist Heather Long wrote in a post on X. “Americans remain very sensitive to price increases. When Trump launched his last trade war in 2018, inflation was 2 %. Now the starting point is 3%.”

Industries that rely on steel and aluminum are increasing their prices.

Nucor, a major U.S. steel producer, sent a letter to its customers on Monday saying they are increasing prices on all steel rebar prices by $40 per ton due to the "significant rise in input costs" caused by Trump's tariffs.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Ford said at a Tuesday investor's conference that Trump's tariffs will be "devastating" for the auto industry, leading to possible layoffs.

"Let's be real honest: Long term, a 25% tariff across the Mexico and Canada borders would blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we've never seen," CEO Jim Farley said, according to the Detroit Free Press. "Frankly, it gives free rein to South Korean, Japanese and European companies that are bringing 1.5 million to 2 million vehicles into the U.S. that wouldn't be subject to those Mexican and Canadian tariffs. It would be one of the biggest windfalls for those companies ever."

Ford donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

Bharat Ramamurti, an economist who served as the deputy director of the National Economic Council under former President Joe Biden, said the fact that inflation is accelerating under Trump is a bad sign for his presidency.

“Inflation reaccelerating. Consumer confidence plunging. Trump approval rating historically low for a presidential honeymoon period. Legislative efforts still stuck in neutral. For all the bluster, the new admin is off to a brutal start,” Ramamurti wrote in a post on X.

Trump, of course, is taking no responsibility for the rise in inflation in January.

"BIDEN INFLATION UP!" Trump wrote in an all-caps rage-post on his Truth Social platform.

Meanwhile, The New York Timesreported that Trump’s administration is starting to temper expectations about their ability to lower prices.

And that could spell trouble for his approval rating. In a recent YouGov poll for CBS News, 66 percent of Americans said Trump isn’t focused enough on lowering prices.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

On Wall Street, 'TACO Trade' Meme Mocks Trump -- And He's Pissed

Desperate For 'Deals,' Trump Hypes Tiny UK Trade Agreement

How Trump May Use Trade Chaos For Illegal Gain

Inflation Ticks Up -- And Trump Tariffs Will Make It Worse

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