NEWSJimmy Kimmel Mocks Donald Trump's 'TACO' Nickname as President's Tariff Plans Shift
Donald Trump's 'TACO' nickname led to Jimmy Kimmel roasting him on his talk show.
May 30 2025, Published 1:26 p.m. ET
Host Jimmy Kimmel mocked Donald Trump’s new “TACO” nickname on the Thursday, May 29, broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The acronym translates to “Trump Always Chickens Out” and was coined by journalist Robert Armstrong to emphasize how the president’s tariff plans have drastically changed since promoting the idea in April.
Jimmy Kimmel Mocks Donald Trump's 'TACO' Nickname
Jimmy Kimmel pointed out how the president 'doesn't like' his new nickname.
As Kimmel delivered his monologue, he pointed out how Trump “doesn’t like the nickname at all.” He showed AI-generated images of the president dressed as a chicken and a taco as he continued to troll the “El Pollo Loco.”
“Trump has changed his tariff policy more than 50 times, as any stable genius would,” Kimmel noted. “And that is starting to catch up to him.”
The comedian went on to discuss Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which consists of 1,116 pages of policies regarding tax cuts, spending cuts and border security.
The president appealed the court's decision to delay his tariffs.
“Yesterday, the Court of International Trade ruled unanimously that Trump does not have the authority to implement the big, beautiful tariffs he’s slapping on everyone,” the late-night host said.
“Trump’s lawyers immediately appealed the decision. The DOJ claims that stopping these tariffs would take away Trump’s leverage in trade negotiations and embolden other countries to take advantage of him,” Kimmel continued before cracking a joke.
“Basically, the court pulled down [Trump’s] pants and showed China his little mushroom,” the comedian said as the audience erupted with laughter.
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Donald Trump Defends Himself Over 'TACO' Nickname
Donald Trump questioned a reporter who asked for his response to his new nickname.
While Trump hasn’t responded to Kimmel, the president clapped back at a reporter on Wednesday, May 28, when they asked him what he thought about his new nickname.
“Oh, I chicken out? Isn’t that nice? I’ve never heard that,” Trump said in the Oval Office press conference.
The president went on to defend his decision to change his tariff policies, specifically how he slashed China’s tariffs for 90 days and pushed the deadline for a 50 percent tariff on European Union countries until July 9.
The president suggested slashing China's tariffs helped them 'tremendously.'
“You call that chickening out?” Trump asked. “I think we really helped China tremendously because, you know, they were having great difficulty because we were basically going cold turkey with China.”
“We were doing no business because of the tariff, because it was so high. But I knew that,” he explained. “Don’t ever say what you said. That’s a nasty question.”
Though the Court of International Trade ruled to delay Trump’s sweeping tariffs, the president’s appeal led to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington to pause the ruling and consider the government’s appeal.
