In Trump’s New Form of T.A.C.O. He Plays with Ships in the Gulf

Back in May 2025, Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong, coined the acronym T.A.C.O. to explain U.S. President Donald Trump’s tendency to back down on his threats, hence, “Trump Always Chickens Out.” 

The original use of T.A.C.O. referred to Trump’s habit of threatening tariffs against country’s such as Canada as a negotiating tool designed to win concessions.

Trump has tended to back down on those threats when his precious stock market makes a sharp downturn. When a reporter asked him about his T.A.C.O. habit he retorted that his was the “Nastiest question” in the history of journalism, a profession which encourages reporters to “speak truth to power.’

As we all know, the truth sometimes hurts.

In the last few days, Trump has turned to a new use of his T.A.C.O. strategy.

Trump’s heavy bombing campaign delivered with Israel against Iran, has proved to be very unpopular with Americans who do not like the consequences of the bombing, Iran’s effective shutting down the passage of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz through which 20 per cent plus of the world’s oil passes. Consequences include the sharp rise in price of oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel, as well as groceries, and other necessities.

Republicans hoping to hold on to both houses of Congress fear that the jump in the cost of living will surely hurt their party’s chances in next fall’s mid-term elections.
​
Wall Street and stock markets throughout the world have plummeted, and Trump got the urge for another T.A.C.O. meal. This was further exacerbated when dead American soldiers began returning home coffins; Trump was there to welcome them home “the heroes” wearing a new style of white baseball cap, this one with golden U.S.A. letters. 

---

​Trump called on traditional allies of the U.S.A. to step up and help to police the Strait with their ships. He called on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer who declined, prompting a bitter response from Trump, who said Britain was once the “Rolls Royce” of U.S. Allies, but no more.
 
 Both Germany and France also declined immediate requests to send warships to the Strait, while supporting the principle of keeping the Strait open.
 
Canada’s defense minister, David McGinty, said firmly: “We will not be engaging offensively in this war.” Japan, China, New Zealand, and Australia are also in the “no” camp.
 
How, in the name of good statecraft, could Trump expect allies to support him in this stage of the war, when the Trump Administration had not informed them or even American congressional leaders prior to the bombing campaign.

It happens that as Trump is getting cold feet about his bombing war against Iran.
​
Meanwhile, the government Israel, mainly using U.S.-made munitions, is doubling down on its war efforts, this week assassinating two top Iranian leaders with air strikes on Tehran.
 
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamen Netanyahu, who is facing long-standing corruption allegations at home, has long been using war as a means of keeping power. This has prolonged the military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, and perpetuated battles with Hezbollah in Lebanon, destroying much of the Lebanese capital Beirut in the process. And now, there is the Iran war.

The world’s worst-ever crime against humanity, the Nazi holocaust killing more than six million Jews, has given Israel the benefit of the doubt for its modern-day war hungry posture.
 
But there is a limit. Israel must renew its efforts to make peace with its neighbours, not kill them.
 
Menachem Begin, the former Prime Minister of Israel, took his initiative with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and they were jointly awarded the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize with the avid involvement and approval of then U.S. President, Jimmy Carter.
 
The statement of the Nobel committee on the awarding of the prize was beautifully expressed, saying as follows:
 
“Never has the Peace Prize expressed a greater hope – for the people of Egypt, for the people of Israel and all the people’s of the strife-torn, war-ravaged Middle East.”
 
Hear, Hear!
 
President Trump has long expressed his fervent wish to be awarded the Nobel Peace, promising to solve the Russia-Ukraine war in one day after beginning his second term in office. That did not happen. Then there was takeover of the government of oil-rich Venezuela. The U.S. is now ruling that country.
 
Poor and struggling, with little energy, garbage piling up and people starving, Cuba is next on Trump’s list for takeover.
 
Surely, Trump and Netanyahu now know they cannot bomb or fire missiles on the way to the Nobel Peace Prize.

---