Suddenly, Communists Are Everywhere
The Atlantic examines the Trump administration's recent efforts to frame modern political opposition as a resurgence of communism. The article critiques the administration's use of Cold War-era rhetoric to characterize domestic and international political threats.
Why it matters
This analysis highlights how political language is being weaponized to define national security threats and influence domestic political discourse.
The Trump administration would like you to worry like it’s 1979.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Chip Somodevilla / Getty; Thinkstock / Getty. August 4, 2026, 7:30 AM ET Share Save K arl Marx wrote that political actors often borrow the language and symbols of earlier struggles to wage their own battles. So perhaps he would have been unsurprised to hear the Trump administration resurrect the political rhetoric of the Cold War fight against Marxism.
President Trump, at Wheeler High School in the Atlanta suburbs earlier this summer, mentioned communism or communist 15 times, starting less than a minute into his hour-plus speech: “Communism is the single greatest threat to our country and its history—including even World War I and World War II, Pearl Harbor, 9/11,” he claimed. “I think it’s the greatest threat that I’ve ever seen to our country.”
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