President Donald Trump has announced two national holidays for Americans to commemorate U.S. victories in the First and Second World Wars - but has made clear they won’t be days off for Americans.
The Republican made the announcement on his Truth Social platform on Monday, declaring that May 8 and November 11 would be marked as public holidays to honor the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 and the signing of the armistice that brought an end to the First World War in 1918 respectively.
“We won two world wars, but we never took credit for it – Everyone else does! All over the world, the allies are celebrating the victory we had in World War II,” Trump wrote.
“The only country that doesn’t celebrate is the United States of America, and the victory was only accomplished because of us. Without the United States, the war would have been won by other countries, and what a different world it would be.”
However, there was a catch.
“We will not be closing the country for these two very important holidays because we already have too many holidays in America,” he added.
“There are not enough days left in the year. We were workers then, and we are workers now!”
That indicates both events will be largely symbolic in nature and will have no practical bearing on businesses or government operations, with employees expected to turn up and clock on as usual.
November 11 is already observed as Veterans’ Day in the United States and was previously known as Armistice Day between 1938 and 1954, when it was changed to honor all of America’s combat veterans, not just those who participated in the Great War.
“We are not renaming Veterans’ Day,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told ABC News, by way of clarification.
“It will just be an additional proclamation that goes out on that day.”
May 8, meanwhile, recognizes the historic moment Germany announced its official surrender and is celebrated as Victory in Europe Day (or VE Day) on that continent, with huge celebrations underway this week to mark the 80th anniversary of that date.
However, American involvement in the Second World War actually continued for another three months, until August 15 1945, when Imperial Japan likewise surrendered, finally bringing a close to the war in the Pacific in which many U.S. soldiers fought bravely and, in many cases, made the ultimate sacrifice.
The latter point was not lost on political commentators, with former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann writing on X: “We won World War II on August 15, 1945 when the Japanese surrendered. Trump is a complete moron.”
Trump is reportedly planning a spectacular parade in Washington, D.C., on June 14 when the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army happens to coincide with his own 79th birthday.
Putin’s endgame in Ukraine – and why it won’t finish there
What Zelensky hopes to achieve by targeting Moscow ahead of Putin’s victory parade
UK and India agree trade deal, slashing tariffs on car and whisky exports
Starmer secures Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal with India
Trump live: Carney set for tariff talks after White House labels Canada ‘socialist’
Who is Mark Carney? Canada’s prime minister who won election on anti-Trump platform
