US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday his intention to rename May 8 and November 11 as “Victory Day,” continuing his trend of reshaping national commemorations.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump declared, “I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I.”
May 8, known in Europe as Victory in Europe Day, commemorates Nazi Germany’s surrender in 1945. While it is widely observed across Europe and in former Soviet countries (where it’s celebrated on May 9), the date is not a public holiday in the U.S. Trump claimed that the U.S. played the most decisive role in winning WWII, stating, “We did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result.”
November 11, originally known as Armistice Day in the U.S. to mark the 1918 end of World War I, was renamed Veterans Day to honor all American military veterans. Trump criticized the current lack of national celebration, writing, “We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance… We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”
Trump’s proposed changes have not yet been formalized through an executive order or official proclamation.
During World War II, the U.S. fought alongside the Soviet Union and Britain against Nazi Germany. The USSR, of which Russia was the largest republic, suffered the highest human cost, with over 20 million casualties.
This announcement follows Trump’s earlier efforts to rename holidays and landmarks during his second term, including pushing to revert “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” back to “Columbus Day” and suggesting the “Gulf of Mexico” be renamed the “Gulf of America.”
