President Trump says Iran conflict is both a ‘field trip’ and a war
President Trump has used the words “expedition” and “war” to describe the ongoing conflict with Iran, and when asked, said the operation was both.
- The acronym TACO, which means “Trump Always Turns Out,” has resurfaced amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.
- TACO was originally coined to describe an investor strategy related to President Trump’s 2025 tariff policy.
- President Trump declared victory but did not give a specific end date for the military operation.
President Donald Trump’s statement that the Iran war will soon end has brought back the familiar jab “TACO” for Trump’s critics.
Last year, one columnist coined the term “taco trade” in response to President Trump’s frequent changes to tariffs, but that was just the beginning of an onslaught of taco-related jokes and AI-generated memes.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and continued their attacks for nearly two weeks. Meanwhile, Iran launched a counterattack against neighboring countries. President Trump and his administration have cited several reasons for why the United States got involved in the conflict, but even some members of Congress have questioned their purpose.
He initially expected the surgery to take four to five weeks, but later said it would be completed soon, although he did not provide a specific timeline. Some people online are claiming TACO again. What does that mean?
What does taco mean?
Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong coined the term “TACO trade” in May 2025 to describe how some investors were expecting a market rebound amid repeated Trump tariffs.
This acronym stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
Armstrong described the TACO trade as a strategy by some investors to buy into a depressed market on the assumption that President Trump would rescind his tariff orders, and then assume the market would recover.
President Trump previously shot back at a reporter who asked him about the term, saying, “You ask such mean questions. That’s called negotiation.”
The Supreme Court ruled on February 20 that many of President Trump’s tariffs are illegal.
President Trump declares victory, no end date set for Iran
President Trump gave a speech in Hebron, Kentucky on March 11, boasting the name “Operation Epic Fury” before declaring American victory.
“We won. I’m telling you, we won,” he said. “I don’t like to say we won too quickly. We won. It was over in the first hour, but we won.”
President Trump initially said the military operation would last four to five weeks, but earlier this week he said it would end “soon,” if not by Monday.
“We don’t want to leave early, right? We have to get the job done,” Trump said at an event in Kentucky.
President Trump told Axios on March 11 that he will end it when he wants, but that it will be “soon” because there is “virtually nothing left to qualify.”
Kinsey Crowley is a Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Please contact KCrowley@usatodayco.com. follow her X (Twitter), blue sky and TikTok.
