DNC trolls Trump on tariffs with free 'TACO' truck parked outside RNC headquarters

Trump rattled by 'nasty' 'TACO' question from reporter

Rich Lowry and Richard Fowler join 'MediaBuzz' to discuss the president being caught off guard by the tariff acronym being used by some on Wall Street.

FIRST ON FOX – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Tuesday parked a custom-wrapped food truck in front of the Republican National Committee (RNC) headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

The rented truck, decked out with images of President Donald Trump, served up a free mouth-watering lunch option to passers-by.

However, in Washington, there is no such thing as a free lunch – and this stunt was no exception. The food truck was a taco truck, and the tacos came with a side of trolling: a policy-themed jab at Trump's tariff record, one the DNC sees as a major vulnerability heading into 2026.

The DNC's renting and customization of the taco truck, as well as its plans to hand out free Trump-branded tacos to passers-by, was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital. It looks to seize on the acronym TACO, or "Trump Always Chickens Out," to provoke Trump's ire. The phrase was coined by Wall Street analysts when referring to Trump's tariff policies – and more specifically, espousing the view among some that Trump will walk back the steep reciprocal tariffs he announced in April, which are currently playing out in federal courts. 

Beyond simply presenting a moral quagmire to hungry RNC employees and other Hill staffers, DNC officials told Fox News that they see the truck as an effective way to draw attention to Trump's tariff policies, which they described as "playing games with working families’ livelihoods."

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The DNC wrapped a rented taco truck in the following image. DNC officials told Fox News that they plan to park the truck outside the RNC on Tuesday to hand out free tacos to draw attention to President Donald Trump's tariffs and economic policy. (Democratic National Committee.)

"Trump always chickens out – we’re just bringing the tacos to match," DNC Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital of the effort. 

"Instead of realizing his tariff chaos is wrecking the economy, Trump continues to drag America towards more economic pain, and the rest of the world sees Trump for exactly what he is: a chicken," he added.

The food truck comes as Trump's power to enact sweeping tariffs has come under legal scrutiny. There is also an open question of whether the administration would actually move forward with the harsh import fees. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously acknowledged that the threat of tariffs could be used as more of a negotiating tactic or an opening salvo for future trade talks, including between the U.S. and China, and described Trump's uncertainty in the process to reporters last week as a means of "strategic uncertainty in the negotiations."

As of this writing, three separate federal courts are weighing Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to stand up the harsh import fees. The plan, which Trump announced on April 2, invokes IEEPA for both his 10% baseline tariff on most U.S. trading partners and a so-called "reciprocal tariff" against other countries.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, speaks next to President Donald Trump, left, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent during a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

The administration has appealed two lower court decisions that blocked his use of the law to either enact or threaten to enact the harsh tariffs. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed a lower court order from the U.S. Court of International Trade, allowing Trump's tariff policy to continue for now while the court continues to investigate the merits of the case. Two other lower court challenges remain in flux. 

In the meantime, however, the moniker TACO has gotten under the president's skin. Last week, Trump blasted a reporter who asked him about the phrase, describing it as a "nasty question." 

"Don't ever say what you said," Trump told the reporter. "To me, that’s the nastiest question," he said.  "I chicken out, oh, I have never heard that," Trump said, noting that lowering the tariffs was part of an ongoing "negotiation" with China.

He continued, "You mean because I reduced China from 145% that I set down to 100 and then down to another number? I said, ‘You have to open your whole country.’" 

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The stage is prepared ahead of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats are using the truck to seize on what they see as a clear sore spot for the president, and a way of tying Trump more directly to any market uncertainty and turmoil that has come as a result of the tariffs.

It comes as the party has struggled to coalesce around a unifying message in the aftermath of the 2024 elections. 

The party has been criticized for failing to seize on Elon Musk's departure from his official role in the Trump administration at the end of May, and for focusing its energy on attacking intraparty strategies and DNC board members, rather than going after the RNC more broadly.

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The taco truck stunt signals a shift in strategy, as Democrats adopt a more Trump-style approach to political attacks ahead of the 2026 midterms, but some of their efforts have missed the mark.

Earlier this week, conservative commentators took aim at a TikTok posted by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), in which he is filmed eating a taco in an attempt to mock Trump's tariff strategy, with some declaring it "cringeworthy."

DNC officials did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions on whether the party plans to pursue the tariff strategy beyond the taco truck, or if it sees these issues as a way to counter Trump and his allies with red state voters in the midterms and beyond.

Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.