Trump's TACO is of no use; Wall Street pays the price for misjudgment.

The three major U.S. stock indexes still hit new lows since 2026, with the Nasdaq dropping over 10%. To stabilize the market, Trump once again chose TCAO, extending the “pause attack” statement on social media from 5 days to 10 days.

Why did U.S. stocks still suffer significant declines despite Trump repeatedly TACOing and continuously releasing positive signals?

What is the biggest concern in the international financial markets right now?

TACO Tactics “Credit Overdraft”

According to the latest media reports, Trump posted again on social media late at night:

At Iran’s request, I hereby declare a 10-day suspension of energy plant attack plans, until 8 p.m. on Monday, April 6, 2026 (Eastern Time). Negotiations are still ongoing, despite false statements from fake news media and others claiming otherwise, progress is very smooth.

Compared to the previous time Trump set a 5-day deadline, which caused oil prices to plummet and U.S. stocks to rebound sharply, Wall Street has clearly lost trust in Trump this time.

The U.S.-Iran conflict has entered its 27th day, far longer than the “short-term, controllable” expectation.

Trump’s TACO has gone from a shot of adrenaline to a questionable placebo.

Most critically, promises of successive discounts. The initial pledge of a “quick resolution” disappeared, then came a “pause for 5 days,” and as the deadline approached without opening the strait, another “extended to 10 days.”

The U.S.-Iran conflict has been ongoing for 27 days, and the Strait of Hormuz is still blocked by Iran.

Wall Street also realizes that the dominant situation may no longer be dictated by White House rhetoric, but by the real military standoff in the Persian Gulf and the tightrope of the global energy supply chain.

Compared to the Nasdaq’s over 2% plunge, what worries Trump and Wall Street more is that the yields on the 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury bonds are once again approaching warning levels.

Once crossed, it will likely trigger a chain reaction of deleveraging.

The market’s panic isn’t just about the geopolitical conflict itself, but about the repeated official messaging that “the conflict will end soon,” which has proven to be an empty promise.

When those who are supposed to control the situation cannot deliver on their promises, uncertainty becomes the only certainty.

The subtle, expectation-managed tacit understanding between Wall Street and the White House has been broken. Previously, Trump’s TACO was effective because the market believed that after he “made a big news,” there were follow-up measures or strategic moves to stabilize the situation, at least in the direction he claimed.

This was a distorted but effective “expectation management.” Now, the tool (TACO) itself has become a source of panic due to overuse and failure.

The game has quietly shifted from “listening to news and following the rhythm” to “not trusting the news and preserving capital.”

Trump’s “art of negotiation” hinges on creating and exploiting asymmetric information and psychological expectations to gain the initiative in negotiations or games. In politics and business, this might work wonders.

But in financial markets, especially in the modern, globalized capital markets, physical disruptions in supply chains, actual energy flows, and real corporate earnings losses cannot be smoothed over with a few words.

For example, the oil blockade in the Persian Gulf cannot be alleviated just because Trump TACOed; South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam are already suffering from oil crises.

This time, the market is finally no longer willing to buy into pure “narratives.”

Everyone is waiting for this war to end and for a decision on where to bet.

On a larger scale, this war determines the fate of the U.S., whether American hegemony in the Middle East can still be maintained, and whether the dollar-pegged oil system can continue as before.

But perhaps, as others have said, if you ask Trump whether the U.S. has won or lost, he would tell you he’s made a profit. He’s leading interest groups to arbitrage back and forth in the futures market through repeated TACO and tough rhetoric.

Ultimately, the stock market plunge in spring 2026 isn’t just about the index dropping; it’s a farewell to an outdated control model.

Next time a crisis hits, Wall Street might be more willing to listen to the waves of the Persian Gulf than the social media alerts from Mar-a-Lago. After all, whether the tank has oil is more tangible than whether a tweet “explodes.” Do you think the “trust” account of the financial market can withstand such overdrafts again and again?

Author’s note: Personal opinion, for reference only.