Donald Trump declared himself as a “wartime president” on Wednesday as he summoned the sacrifices made during the Second World War to call on Americans to pull together to secure a “total victory” over the coronavirus epidemic.

During the coronavirus briefing, Trump invoked emergency powers that allow his administration to marshal the private sector to respond to what he again referred to as the “Chinese virus.”

He said he would deploy one naval hospital ship to New York City, which is rapidly becoming the epicenter of the emergency, and a second to the West Coast.

“Every generation of Americans has been called to make sure it sacrifices for the good of the nation. In World War II, young people in their teenage years volunteered to fight,” he said.

“Now, it’s our time we must sacrifice together because we are all in this together,” he said. “We’ll come through together.”

Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, which affords the president a broad set of powers to use the domestic industry to produce essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis.

“It’s a war,” he said. “I view it as a, in a sense, a wartime president. It’s a very tough situation.”

Twitter had a field day:

Don’t look now, but the “wartime president” let the enemy enter our country without firin’ a shot. https://t.co/4wWtPbZyAd

— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) March 18, 2020

Trump just called himself a "wartime president" while speaking about fighting the #coronavirus "enemy."

This is almost certainly a reflection of Jared Kushner's influence. Notably, neither Trump nor Kushner would know anything about going to war.

— Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) March 18, 2020

Only two things got this president to start taking the pandemic seriously: the collapse in stock prices and his empty hotels and golf courses. Now he thinks he’s a “wartime president.” What rubbish. President “Bone Spurs” never met a war he couldn’t run from.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 18, 2020

Trump say’s he’s a wartime president? I can see that.
– at war with the constitution
– at war with law & order
– at war with truth and honesty
– at war with basic moral decency
– at war with the environment
– at war with science and evidence
– at war with affordable healthcare https://t.co/jm86TmpUr7

— John Oberlin (@OMGno2trump) March 18, 2020

Doesn’t a wartime president kill the enemy rather than their own people? https://t.co/rOhoDgyqx9

— Frank Sharry (@FrankSharry) March 18, 2020

So the new tactic is to play wartime president. At the latest briefing:”It will be a complete victory, it will be a total victory. “

No, it won’t. Too many Americans will die. It will linger longer & cause more devastation than most of us expect. Incompetence will make it worse.

— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) March 18, 2020

Yesterday, after weeks of denying and downplaying the gravity of coronavirus, Trump claimed that he knew it was pandemic before it was declared a pandemic.

Today, he claimed he was invoking the DPA, calling himself a "wartime president," and now tweets that he's not invoking it. https://t.co/gyuLrM27gA

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) March 18, 2020

Today Trump called himself a “Wartime President.” I would say a “Failed Wartime President.”

He denied the enemy was here. Then said it would magically disappear. And ignored it while it attacked thousands of Americans.#CoronavirusUSA

— David Hoffman (@atDavidHoffman) March 18, 2020

Trump keeps calling this a “war”.

That is dangerous rhetoric.

He’s trying to give himself the stature of a President in wartime.

It’s blatantly political, but could be a slippery-slope into something much more hazardous.

Do NOT let him get away with that language.

— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) March 18, 2020

This is a facile analogy, but let’s play along with it: the country was being invaded by an enemy for two months while the wartime president called the invasion a hoax and failed to mobilize the government to fight back. https://t.co/9DARwU61rO

— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) March 18, 2020