President Donald Trump announced in a late-night post that the U.S. will now celebrate Victory Day on May 8 to commemorate the end of World War II, but critics quickly pointed out that only the war in Europe came to an end in May. The Americans—quite famously—continued to fight the Japanese until August 1945.
The president also said he wants to replace Veterans Day, which Congress made a federal holiday in 1954, and to go back to celebrating the end of World War I on Nov. 11 instead.
“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 in World War II,” Trump wrote Thursday night in a Truth Social post. “I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I.”
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Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, and France and Poland celebrate May 8 as Victory Day marking the end of hostilities in Europe in World War II. The U.K. also commemorated the 50th and 75th anniversaries of Victory in Europe Day in 1995 and 2020, respectively, but their main memorial is Remembrence Day on Nov. 11.
Russia, meanwhile, celebrates “Victory Day” every May 9 with a massive military parade commemorating the country’s defeat of Nazism during “The Great Patriotic War.” For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the holiday is an opportunity to project Russia as a powerful nation of winners, according to Reuters.
Germany did surrender on May 8, but the Allies were still at war with Japan in the Pacific theatre for several more months. The U.S. bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, while the Soviets invaded Japanese-occupied Manchuria in northeast China on Aug. 9.
“We won World War II on August 15, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered,” former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann wrote in a post on X. “Trump is a complete moron.”
The president’s claim of unique American bravery is also likely to get some pushback from several of the Allies, including Russia, which has long emphasized the 9 million Soviet troops and 19 million Soviet civilians who died fighting Nazi Germany’s military campaigns on the European war’s eastern front, Politico reported.
More than 43,000 British civilians were also killed during German bombing campaigns in the U.K.
“We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”
Under Trump’s plan, Nov. 11 would no longer be dedicated to honoring American veterans, who are currently celebrated every year for their “patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good,” according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans Day was first celebrated in 1919 as Armistice Day to commemorate “the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory,” in World War I, according to then-President Woodrow Wilson.
Congress made Armistice Day a national holiday in 1938, and in 1954, the legislature changed the word “Armistice” to “Veterans” to honor not just World War I veterans but American veterans of all wars. It’s not clear whether the president can unilaterally change it.
In 1971, Congress passed a law moving Veterans Day up to the fourth Monday of every October in order to guarantee the holiday would fall on a three-day weekend. The move faced such widespread backlash that lawmakers were forced to change the date back to Nov. 11.
“It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens,” according to the VA.
Restoring the original date “supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.”
Trump has never served in the military after he famously avoided being drafted during the Vietnam War thanks to a last-minute diagnosis of bone spurs in his right foot.
The daughter of the physician who made the diagnosis later said her father had written the prescription as a favor to his landlord, Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father.
The president has nevertheless reportedly ordered a four-mile military parade to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Army on June 14, which just happens to fall on his 79th birthday.
