President Donald Trump has announced plans to rename Veterans Day as “Victory Day for World War I” and designate May 8 as “Victory Day for World War II,” asserting that the United States deserves greater recognition for its military achievements in both world wars.
In a late-night post on Truth Social, Trump stated, “We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything.” He emphasized the need to “start celebrating our victories again.”
Armistice Day was established to commemorate the end of World War I, marking the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918—“the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day, describing it as a day of solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in service and a commitment to peace. It became a federal holiday in 1938.
World War 2 ended in Europe on May 8th, called at the time as “V-E day” for “Victory in Europe” and in the Pacific Theater in August, which at the time was called “V-J Day” for “Victory over Japan.” The discredited and disgraced Daily Beast is calling Trump a ‘moron’ for not being clearer in the distinction between the two.
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, V-E Day and V-J Day were widely celebrated with spontaneous street parties, parades, and national rejoicing in Allied nations. V-E Day, commemorated on May 8, became an annual remembrance in Europe, particularly in the U.K., while in the U.S., it was noted but never established as a recurring federal holiday. V-J Day, August 15 (or September 2, the date of the formal surrender), prompted even larger celebrations in the United States—famously captured in the Times Square kiss photograph—but over time, formal observance faded.
Polls show that “American pride” is at record lows after years of the Biden presidency.
President Trump has repeatedly worked to restore American pride.
In 2020, President Donald Trump proposed the creation of the “National Garden of American Heroes,” a sculpture park intended to honor 250 prominent figures from American history. Announced during a Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore, the initiative was framed as a response to the removal of historical monuments amid nationwide protests, aiming to celebrate individuals who contributed significantly to the nation’s heritage.
In 2023, approximately 15.8 million individuals identified as veterans in the United States. This number represents about 6.1% of the total civilian population age 18 and over. Fewer than 15% of veterans are generally considered to be “combat” veterans. As of 2011, there are no known surviving veterans from World War 1, and as of January 2025, only 66,000 veterans from World War 2 are estimated to be alive.
4.8 million Americans served in World War 1, and an estimated 16 million served in World War 2.
May 8th is the date that the German troops offered their unconditional surrender. The German troops had been willing to surrender much earlier after Hitler’s suicide on April 30th, but wanted additional time to allow civilians to flee west to avoid the Soviet military and their notoriety for brutal mass rapes and mass killings.
The Japanese surrendered on August 15th, 1945 after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the declaration of war and invasion by the Soviet Union. Japan formally signed their surrender on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2nd. Though they had, too, unconditionally surrendered, Japan was allowed to keep their Emperor as a figurehead. The Japanese had been offering unconditional surrender terms since late 1944.
Trump has used the same pro-America arguments when renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and also in renaming ‘Denali’ back to Mount McKinley, after President William McKinley who was assassinated by a far-left lunatic in 1901. McKinley is associated by historians as promoting American expansion and greatness, as well as aggressively using the President’s tariff powers, both priorities of the Trump administration.
The left is predictably opposed to this renaming, complaining that this does not include all veterans. The New York Times editorialized in their news coverage complaining, “…the focus of the new names on winning overlooked veterans who served in more recent wars that had more mixed results” and quoted veterans from various conflicts.
The Times complained that this change puts the blame on veterans for not winning America’s wars. Luckily for the Times, America has always won its military conflicts, though the withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975 was categorized as a defeat, and the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan by Joe Biden in 2021 was classified as a defeat.
The 50th anniversary of the withdrawal from Vietnam was this past week, on April 30th.
Veterans Day, observed on November 11, was originally established as Armistice Day in 1938 to commemorate the end of World War I. In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War.
WW1 had nearly 40 million casualties. There were 10 million military KIA. The United States lost 53,402 in about 18 months, being in the war from April 6, 1917 through November 11, 1918.
The United States was baited into the “Great War” with false war propaganda, including the alleged “rape of Belgian nuns” by Germans, which were later proven to be false. In May 1915, the British produced “The Bryce Report” and described savagery by Germans in Belgium. After the war, all the original depositions used to justify the report, which were supposed to be kept in perpetuity, disappeared.
The British claim they reappeared, but just happened to be destroyed by a German rocket in WW2. 40,000 copies of the Bryce Report were immediately mailed to the United States. The American media republished the fake report and its fake atrocities. Modern historians believe that the affidavits used to support the Bryce Report were likely faked or wildly exaggerated.
The American public was also pulled into the war by the sinking of the HMS Lusitania, which took the lives of 128 Americans, among a death toll of 1,200. The Germans claimed the Lusitania was carrying war munitions, and the British said it was purely civilian. Later revelations have uncovered that it was, indeed, carrying a significant amount of military munitions.
Re-examinations of America’s role and record in past military conflicts has been undergoing a significant revision lately. An ongoing cultural debate is ongoing as to whether ‘revisionists’ should be allowed a public platform on popular broadcasts such as the Joe Rogan podcast. British author Douglas Murray has encouraged Rogan, and others, to deplatform writers and authors who have contrarian views to the mainstream on America’s past and current wars.
Estimates that include both the war dead along with their never-born descendents put the total impact of the war’s losses in population terms, into the millions.
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