How Trump is 'undercutting' America’s 'status' with 'all kinds of nuttery'

President Donald Trump with Sen. Ted Cruz at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, Saturday, April 12, 2025

Wall Street investors have found a new way to mock President Donald Trump: the term TACO, which stands for "Trump always chickens out." The term was created in response to his pattern of announcing steep new tariffs on the United States' trading partners but delaying them later.

During a Saturday, May 31 appearance on MSNBC, The Contrarian's Jennifer Rubin — an outspoken Never Trumper and former Washington Post columnist — cited the TACO meme as an example of the damage that Trump is inflicting on the United States' reputation.

In terms of the economy and foreign policy, Rubin warned, many U.S. allies are seriously worried about the country's wellbeing.

The 62-year old Rubin told MSNBC's Ali Velshi and former CNN host Jim Acosta (who was also featured as a guest), "Part of the problem with TACO is that if you're an investor, if you're an entrepreneur, why would you invest in the United States? Why would you build a new plant? Why would you plan a future down the road more than a day or two? You can't plan and grow an economy with such uncertainty."

Rubin continued, "One of the problems, one of the reasons why (JPMorgan Chase CEO) Jamie Dimon was so freaked out is America has always been a financial refuge, because it's been stable. People want to park their money here, and if they don't — if they want to sell out on bonds on the market — suddenly, we're going to have a real debt crisis. Debt is going to become more expensive. Growth is going to slow. There's a whole cascade of issues that happen because Trump is making us into a lesser economic power."

Longtime U.S. allies around the world, Rubin warned, are worried about "all kinds of nuttery" coming from the Trump Administration, including tariffs, erratic foreign policy, and attacks on major universities.

"So in every way," Rubin told Velshi and Acosta, "he is weakening and undercutting the United States. And we're beginning to see the ramifications. These students who are being thrown out, foreign professors — they're going to go elsewhere. Research dollars will go overseas. Investors will find other places to put their money. Investors will find other bonds, other financial ways to expand. …. We have never had a president who has so damaged the American economy, the American international status…. The rest of the world looks at us and thinks we're nuts, and to some extent, we are….. The rest of the world says: Thanks but no thanks — we're going to park our money elsewhere."

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