Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Trump wants to rename VE day "Victory in WW2 day" and Nov 11th as Victory in WW1 day"

92 replies

cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 18:45

Apparently the USA did "more than any other country" and nobody was close in terms of strength, bravery or military brilliance - so he wants to celebrate victories.

https://bsky.app/profile/number10cat.bsky.social/post/3lo7buvd7d22d

Stats are here

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war

Soviet Union
Military deaths: 8,800,000-10,700,000
Combined military and civillian deaths: 24,000,000

USA:

Military deaths::416,800
Combined military and civillian deaths:418,500

UK

Military deaths: 383,600
Combined military and civillian deaths:450,700

China

China
Military deaths: 3-4,000,000
Combined military and civillian deaths:20,000,000

If he wanted to upset Russia, this is how to do it.

It's also going to upset other countries who suffered massively in WW2 and also fought alongside the USA to defeat the Nazis and also the Japanese

Larry the Cat (@number10cat.bsky.social)

The 8th May has been marked as VE Day since before Trump was born. VE stands for Victory in Europe. As for the First World War, the idea that some Yank who refused to serve in the military, will command people around the world not to call it Rembrance...

https://bsky.app/profile/number10cat.bsky.social/post/3lo7buvd7d22d

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
MoominMai · 02/05/2025 19:24

cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:16

It's also insulting to the many US troops who died in the Japanese campaign - WW2 didn't end on May 8th

Urgh, yes VE Day simply commemorates WW2 ending within Europe on 8/5/45.

BitOutOfPractice · 02/05/2025 19:24

Is it a surprise that he’s an ignoramus?

At Arlington cemetery the dates of wwii are 1941-1945 🤷‍♀️ go figure

Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:24

RufustheFactuaIReindeer · 02/05/2025 19:22

Off your point but i read that only 3% of the 18 year olds mobilised in 1941 would still be alive in 1945

Show quote history

That doesn't seem right.

Most soldiers survived WW2.

Even those who started at the beginning.

OP posts:
Tooty78 · 02/05/2025 19:23

Swiftie1878 · 02/05/2025 18:59

As an American he should know that the war (2nd ) didn’t end on 8th May. It’s months later before we had VJ (Victory in Japan Day) and the war finally ended.
But of course he knows very little about quite a lot.

Thank you for mentioning VJ Day it always seems to gets lost in the VE celebrations.
My Dad fought in Burma in WWII, and it must have been awful for my Mum when they were celebrating victory in Europe, and yet they were still fighting in the east until August, At least Dad came home (obviously!).

RufustheFactuaIReindeer · 02/05/2025 19:22

readingmakesmehappy · 02/05/2025 19:18

I worked out from Wikipedia stats that UK military deaths in WW2 were equivalent to 0.8% of the 1939 UK population. And military deaths won’t include the 30k Londoners killed in the Blitz, for example.
US military deaths in WW2 were 0.3% of the 1939 US population. Proportionately the toll it took on Britain was far higher (hardly surprising as we were fighting the war on our own for two years before the US joined and Russia joined our side). I haven’t worked out the equivalent stat for Russia.

Off your point but i read that only 3% of the 18 year olds mobilised in 1941 would still be alive in 1945

Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:21

I wonder if he knew countries were celebrating VE day soon and wanted to do the same - and he just forgot about VJ day when he decided to announce it on social media.

OP posts:
PonyPatter44 · 02/05/2025 19:18

Who cares what he thinks- the man is a clown and a Putin puppet. He has mocked disabled veterans and saluted a north Korean leader. He has no clue about military valour or sacrifice.

readingmakesmehappy · 02/05/2025 19:18

I worked out from Wikipedia stats that UK military deaths in WW2 were equivalent to 0.8% of the 1939 UK population. And military deaths won’t include the 30k Londoners killed in the Blitz, for example.
US military deaths in WW2 were 0.3% of the 1939 US population. Proportionately the toll it took on Britain was far higher (hardly surprising as we were fighting the war on our own for two years before the US joined and Russia joined our side). I haven’t worked out the equivalent stat for Russia.

Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:16

It's also insulting to the many US troops who died in the Japanese campaign - WW2 didn't end on May 8th

OP posts:
Aiiii · 02/05/2025 19:13

He’s got such an approximate grasp of the English language.

BruceAndNosh · 02/05/2025 19:12

He's very keen on "hereby renaming"

Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:08

RufustheFactuaIReindeer · 02/05/2025 19:06

Without the Russians we’d have been screwed

Exactly.

I wonder how much WW2 history he actually knows?

OP posts:
RufustheFactuaIReindeer · 02/05/2025 19:06

Without the Russians we’d have been screwed

Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:05

Fox News clearly forgot to mention the Soviet Unions involvement

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-declares-may-8-victory-day-world-war-ii-going-start-celebrating-our-victories-again

""We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything," the president wrote. "That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!""

Nov 11th should be about remembering the people who died.

We commemorate the end of WW1 - and clearly VE day is a day of celebration that the war in Europe had ended although hard fighting was still taking place against Japan.

Trump declares May 8 as 'Victory Day' for World War II: 'Going to start celebrating our victories again!'

President Trump announced plans to designate May 8 as World War II "Victory Day" and Nov. 11 as World War I "Victory Day," stating that we are "going to start celebrating our victories again."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-declares-may-8-victory-day-world-war-ii-going-start-celebrating-our-victories-again

OP posts:
Original poster
cakeorwine · 02/05/2025 19:00

I like this quote from CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/02/politics/rename-veterans-day-victory-day

“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 on World War II,” Trump’s social media post said.
Historians, however, call September 2, 1945, the day Japan signed surrender documents aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay as V-J Day, and the official end of World War II.

Because WW2 ended when Japan surrendered. Which you would have hoped a US President would know that.

Trump says he wants to rename Veterans Day to ‘Victory Day for World War I’ | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he wants to rename Veterans Day, a federal holiday on November 11, to “Victory Day for World War I” in a move to purportedly “start celebrating our victories again.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/02/politics/rename-veterans-day-victory-day

OP posts:
Swiftie1878 · 02/05/2025 18:59

As an American he should know that the war (2nd ) didn’t end on 8th May. It’s months later before we had VJ (Victory in Japan Day) and the war finally ended.
But of course he knows very little about quite a lot.

Whatatodo79 · 02/05/2025 18:59

He's a complete numpty idiot. We can continue to call VE day VE day. He'll be on some other nonsense by tomorrow