President Donald Trump waded into a historical minefield this week with a plan to rename a beloved holiday that rips a page from Russia’s authoritarian playbook, according to published reports.
In a post to his Truth Social site on Thursday, the Republican president proclaimed that hat he wants to rename Veterans Day to “Victory Day for World War I” and wants to mark May 8 as “Victory Day for World War II.”
The problem? World War II only ended in Europe on May 8, 1945. The U.S. globe-spanning war didn’t formally come to an end until Aug. 14, 1945, when Japan finally surrendered.
“Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8th as Victory Day, but we did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II. I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I,“ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” he added.
Critics were quick to point out that marking the May 8 holiday would disregard the contributions of tens of thousands of the American “Greatest Generation” who continued to fight and die in the Pacific against Japan.
They also argued that eliminating the Veterans’ Day holiday would disregard the contributions of American servicepeople who fought in the nation’s other military conflicts, from the Korean War through the most recent wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and elsewhere.
The Atlantic’s David Frum noted that Trump is following Russia’s practice in celebrating the end of the war on May 8.
“Nazi Germany surrendered in May 1945. For Americans, the Second World War would rage for three more months, until VJ Day in August. But for Russians and those influenced by them, ‘Victory Day’ falls in May. Trump follows the Russian practice, not the American,” Frum wrote in a post to X.
Frum also noted that Trump’s rhetoric on World War II “mixes strangely” with his “America First” movement.
“Trump’s America-triumphalist version of WW2 mixes strangely with the fact that he named his own ‘America First’ movement after a movement led in 1940-41 by the Axis sympathizer, Charles Lindbergh,” he wrote in a separate post.
Political commentator Keith Olbermann also weighed in.
“We won World War II on August 15, 1945 when the Japanese surrendered. Trump is a complete moron,” he wrote.
If he carries through on the move, Trump would be “taking away the honor of the day from millions veterans,” podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen wrote on X.
Strategist Alexander S. Vindman, a senior advisor at Vote Vets, blasted Trump for his decision and ripped him for reportedly asking thousands of soldiers to participate in a parade for the president’s birthday.
“Trump is a [expletive] simpleton. He doesn’t understand that tens of thousands of troops were killed and wounded between May and August of 1945, so May 8th as Victory Day for WWII makes no sense from as a starting point,” he wrote.
“Worse yet, changing Veterans Day to Victory Day for WWI ignores the sacrifice of those countless others who served. What really pisses me off is the military parade he’s trying to get for his birthday. There should be mass resignations to protest this obscene vanity project that wastes precious resources and the time of our troops,” he added.
Many users noted that only Congress can rename Veterans Day.
“Seriously? There are no limits. Only Congress can rename Veterans Day. Trump wants to rename Veterans Day to focus on military victories,” U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote on X.
