Donald Trump often used war metaphors to talk about COVID-19 during his Coronavirus Task Force briefings. He framed the virus as the enemy, healthcare workers as soldiers, and citizens as making sacrifices on the homefront. At first, these war metaphors may seem effective. They help people make sense of a confusing virus through the well-understood framework of combat. They also appear to foster unity and collective action. However, this boost to people’s resilience is fleeting. Ultimately, war metaphors—such as those employed by Trump—can undermine an effective response to the pandemic by making false cures more appealing than recommended protocols, delegitimizing healthcare workers’ requests for equipment, stoking xenophobia, and leading to fatalism over time. Thus, Trump’s rhetoric may have done more harm than good to people’s ability to effectively weather the COVID-19 pandemic, despite any initial boosts to morale.

This paper was presented at the Eastern Communication Association Undergraduate Scholars Conference. It received a Top Paper award.