For good or really bad, it's the TACO presidency

From Iran to tariffs to immigration, "Trump always chickens out," even caving to competing factions in his base on the same issue. It's a horrifying way to run a government.

Donald Trump allowed Benjamin Netanyahu to do whatever he wanted in Gaza. And Netanyahu surely did.

But then Trump chickened out, a la TACO—”Trump Always Chickens Out” the term coined by Wall Street traders regarding tariff threats—bowing to other pressures, cutting Netanyahu out of meetings and not even visiting Israel on his tour of Arab nations in the Middle East, where he was feted by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump began negotiating with Iran, and floating the idea of a nuclear deal—even though he killed the last one because President Obama negotiated it—defying Netanyahu.

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But then Trump chickened out, as The New York Times reports, under pressure from Netanyahu:

It became increasingly apparent to Trump administration officials that they might not be able to stop Mr. Netanyahu this time, according to interviews with key players in the administration’s deliberations over how to respond and others familiar with their thinking…

Contrary to Israeli claims, senior administration officials were unaware of any new intelligence showing that the Iranians were rushing to build a nuclear bomb — a move that would justify a pre-emptive strike. But seeing they would most likely not be able to deter Mr. Netanyahu and were no longer driving events, Mr. Trump’s advisers weighed alternatives.

The alternative was the chickening out. Now Trump is beating the war drums, threatening Iran to “surrender” and now using “we,” just following Netanyahu:

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump wrote, “we know exactly where” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, “is hiding,” but added, “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now.” Boasting of Israel’s air superiority, which he suggested was based on American technology, he wrote, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” associating himself with Israel’s war effort.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump said he was looking for something “better than a cease-fire” between Israel and Iran — “a real end, not a cease-fire.” Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr. Trump, who departed Monday, a day early, from a meeting of leaders of the Group of 7 nations in Alberta, Canada, said he wanted Iran to give up while insisting that Tehran abandon any effort to develop nuclear weapons. “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate,” he added.

But MAGA is going nuts. They didn’t sign up for more foreign wars, which they claimed the Democrats precipitated (even though George W. Bush got us into Afghanistan and Joe Biden got us out).

Tucker Carlson is saying this will be the end of Trump’s presidency, telling Steve Bannon that it’s also the end of American empire.

Majorie Taylor Greene is almost sounding rational, speaking out against killing and murder—except she didn’t speak that way about domestic terrorism and January 6th— writing on social media, “Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA.”

But hawks in the GOP and the administration want a war.

Will Trump chicken out again, caving to hard-core MAGA, making it appear like it was a bluff—as he did on tariffs? Probably. Maybe. Or will he cave to the hawks? Probably. Maybe. Who knows?

On immigration, Trump has done a 180 four times. He pushed for mass deportations, allowing Stephen Miller to tell ICE to go everywhere, only to watch farms, factories, meat-packing plant and other businesses raided.

Then Trump chickened out. He announced on Truth Social he was going to pull back on raids of those businesses and spoke about it in a press conference.

But then he chickened out again, allowing Stephen Miller’s agenda to continue, as he went full force pushing mass deportations and the Washington Post reported there would be no change.

But then…he chickened out again, when The New York Times reported the next day that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollin and others got him to pull back. An ICE memo was released that said those businesses would be spared.

And then, once again, Trump bowed to Miller, chickening out on the previous chicken out, and now going all in again on raiding farms and factories.

It’s repeated whiplash, and it’s unclear how much Trump even knows what’s going on.

But when he does, Trump bows to factions in his base who make noise. Then bows to the opposite faction when that faction makes noise. Ultimately, though, Stephen Miller seems to get his way because Trump is not really the president most of the time. Whether it’s Elon Musk or Miller, he gives enormous power to others as he plays golf or enjoys his military parade—until some of his wealthy donors complain or he is shown polling that has him dropping fast or he sees protests against him.

None of us can ever be certain what’s going to happen, because this is the TACO presidency. And it’s exceedingly dangerous.