Donald Trump‘s presidency has come with several acronyms.
MAGA, of course, stands for “Make America Great Again,” which is occasionally altered for other initiatives like “Make America Healthy Again,” or “MAHA.”
But all the popular acronyms haven’t been Trump’s doing this year. “TACO” was created by Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong to describe how some investors anticipate market rebounds amid Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff policies. (It stands for “Trump always chickens out.”) The Department of Government Efficiency was also shortened to DOGE, which is the same name as a popular meme that became a memecoin that Elon Musk supported.
“FAFO” has also come up a few times throughout the presidency, but what does it mean?
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What does ‘FAFO’ mean?
FAFO stands for “f— around and find out.”
It is often used as a warning that if someone is acting inappropriately, they will face consequences. The phrase has been used outside of politics long before the Trump administration.
How does one use ‘FAFO’ in a (political) sentence?
Head of the newly coined “Department of War,” formerly the Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth used the term at a recent meeting with hundreds of top military commanders.
“Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the war department,” Hegseth said on Sept. 30. “In other words, to our enemies …” he said as he pointed and looked directly into the camera and spelled out: “F-A-F-O.”
Musk also recently posted a fake photo of Trump spelling “FAFO” with the caption, “cool shell formation found on beach walk.” It was posted on the day after former FBI director James Comey was indicted by the Justice Department, and an apparent nod to Comey’s post on social media earlier this year of a shell formation on the beach that read “8647.”
Trump used “FAFO” in his own AI-generated image back in January amid potential trade-war tensions with Colombia. The U.S. and Colombia had engaged in a deportation showdown.
Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Josh Meyer, Melina Khan, USA TODAY
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump and ‘FAFO’ go back to January. Hegseth brought it back
