The US president has claimed that America won both World Wars, prompting a backlash from Russia
US President Donald Trump has announced plans to designate days commemorating America’s victory in the First World War and Second World War as national holidays.
The proposal, first floated last week, is part of Trump’s call to “start celebrating our victories again,” although Russia dismissed his claim that the US won WWII as “nonsense.”
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump claimed that America “won two World Wars, but we never took credit for it,” unlike other Allied nations around the world, which are celebrating “the Victory we had in World War II.”
He went on to reiterate that “the Victory was only accomplished because of us,” adding that “without the United States, the War would have been won by other Countries, and what a different World it would be.”
Trump stated that he would establish a national holiday “in celebration of the victories of World War I, marked by the Armistice on November 11, 1918, and World War II, with Victory Day on May 8, 1945.”
Last week Trump asserted that the US “did more than any other country, by far” to win World War II, claiming “nobody was close to us in strength, bravery, or military brilliance” in either war.
Trump’s claims that America played the leading role in defeating Nazi Germany sparked controversy. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now deputy chairman of his country’s Security Council, dismissed the remarks as “pretentious nonsense,” emphasizing the Soviet Union’s sacrifice of 27 million lives in the war.
General Lord Dannatt, former chief of the UK General Staff, called Trump’s remarks “extraordinary” and accused him of “rewriting history.”
Nazi Germany officially surrendered to the Allies on May 8, 1945, after Soviet forces captured Berlin. The surrender took effect after midnight Moscow time. While the US observes May 8 as Victory in Europe Day, Russia commemorates the occasion on May 9.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Russia’s gratitude for US support during World War II but maintained that the Soviet Union would have defeated Nazi Germany without it. He noted that the Lend-Lease program provided valuable aid, such as vehicles, aircraft, ammunition, and tanks, which helped make a difficult task more manageable.
The Lend-Lease program was a US initiative that supplied Allied nations with military equipment, food, and raw materials. According to Peskov, the Soviet Union received aid valued at around $200 billion in today’s terms. However, the support wasn’t free. Russia, as the USSR’s successor, only completed repayment in 2006.
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