US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced his intent to rename both May 8 and November 11 “Victory Day” in his latest attempt to alter the country’s nomenclature.
“I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Victory Day, observed by the European Union (EU) on May 8 and in former Soviet countries on May 9, marks the anniversary of the formal acceptance of Germany’s unconditional surrender.
The world war continued in Asia until the surrender of Japan in early September 1945 after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Though some in the US mark the anniversary, May 8 is not a public holiday or celebrated as widely as in Europe.
“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’s post said.
November 11 was originally named “Armistice Day” by former US president Woodrow Wilson to mark the anniversary of the 1918 armistice ending the armed conflict in World War I.
It is currently a public holiday in the United States known as “Veterans Day” and is intended to honour Americans who have served in the US military services.
“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 who know how to do so!” Trump continued. “We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”
During World War II, the Soviet Union, of which Russia was the largest of 15 republics, united with Britain and the United States to oppose Nazi Germany.
The USSR had the highest number of casualties during the conflict, with almost 20 million dead.
The White House has yet to publish an executive order or proclamation enumerating the holiday name changes.
In his second term, Trump has regularly attempted to rename aspects of US public life, whether it be a national holiday — such as renaming “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” to “Columbus Day” — or a geographical feature, such as renaming the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”
