President Donald Trump in a social media post Thursday announced plans to rename Veterans Day as “Victory Day for World War I” and establish May 8 as “Victory Day for World War II.”
“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 the late night statement. “That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”
The move to rename Veterans Day — established to coincide with the end date of World War II — would overwrite 87 years of precedent in recognizing Nov. 11 as a national holiday celebrating all veterans.
During his last term in office, Trump issued a national proclamation for Veterans Day honoring the celebration as a chance for the country to “pause to pay tribute to all who have proudly worn our nation’s uniform.” He did not make any mention of the World War I origins of the date.
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White House officials did not respond to clarification on whether Trump’s Victory Day name would replace or run alongside Veterans Day celebrations.
Trump also did not clarify if he expects May 8 will also become a federal holiday like Veterans Day, although a decision on that designation would fall to Congress.
In his post, Trump noted that many countries commemorate the end of World War II on May 8 “but we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result.”
May 8, 1945, was the end of major fighting in the European arena of World War II, but fighting in the Pacific for U.S. and allied troops continued for nearly four more months, until Sept. 2 of that year.
More than 400,000 U.S. troops were killed in fighting in World War II, according to the National World War II museum.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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