"war on fraud," why wording matters

On Tuesday, February 24th, Trump gave his first State of the Union Address of his second term. In it, he said many things, but one thing that stood out most was when he announced, "I am officially announcing the war on fraud to be led by our great Vice President JD Vance." The war on fraud. It sounds familiar; surely he is following in past presidents' footsteps, specifically the "war on poverty" announced by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, "war on drugs" (also attributed to Ronald Reagan), "war on cancer," and then Richard Nixon in 1971, with his "war on crime."

War provokes feelings, often feelings of patriotism, and the black-and-white framing of "we're the good guys, they're the bad guys." By using this format for public policy for things that should be looked at with nuance, like poverty or drugs, we frame it as something that must be overcome, then rally support for the cause. A quote by David Davenport and Gordon Lloyd says it well: "The war metaphor itself is a powerful rhetorical tool that has shaped domestic policy. There are troops to muster, enemies to fight, and battles to win. There is little time and opportunity for policy deliberation because, after all, we are at war. In war, the president becomes commander in chief and domestic policies shift from the leadership of Congress to the White House."

When Nixon declared his war on drugs, and Johnson declared his war on crime, what they really meant to say was war on people of color, war on the lower class, war on those with less, war on those whom the government has failed.

Now, Trump has adopted the same rhetoric and declared a war on fraud. Trump has continuously, in his second term, taken aim at immigrants, and now, after the fraud scandal in Minnesota, Trump has used this to declare war on fraud. What he actually means is war on democratic states and cities, war on immigrants, war on the poor, war on the non-white, war on anyone he does not like. Trump has targeted Somali immigrants after fraud was discovered in Minnesota. He used that to spread racism, bigotry, and hate. He will use this war on fraud as an excuse to cut food stamps, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and anything else that he can. He will claim that they all have fraud, he will try to oust leaders, he will mock them and make fun of them, just as he did to Ilhan Omar, calling her "garbage" for being Somali. If an immigrant is involved, he will slander their entire community and be racist for all the world to see.

Some historians see peace as simply the time between wars, rather than wars as the time between peace. By framing war as inevitable, the human brain latches on to war as something that must be fought, must be conquered, and then, when peace comes, must be waited for. This "war on fraud" weaponizes this idea that war is inevitable by declaring war on something that, while truly an issue, is being dealt with in an altogether wrong way. It's not that he cares about the fraud that runs rampant in our government, but rather that fraud can be used as an excuse and a weapon utilized to fight his personal enemies. When anyone uses the term war, it's intentional, the same as calling something a terrorist organization, something we've similarly seen Trump do. It evokes fear, fervor, and a rallying cry to do the right thing and be on the right side of history. So the next time you hear a metaphor about war, think carefully about why.