President Donald Trump campaigned to reshape the federal government and fundamentally recreate the United States. That has included efforts to rename a federal holiday and create another, declaring that the country should “start celebrating our victories again!“

In a post on his Truth Social platform late Thursday, the president wrote, “Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8 as Victory Day, but we did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II. I am hereby renaming May 8 as Victory Day for World War II and November 11 as Victory Day for World War I.“

He went on to add, “We won both Wars. Nobody was close to us regarding strength, bravery, or military brilliance. Still, we never celebrated anything because we no longer have leaders who know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has issued a wave of executive orders, but it is unclear what his “renaming” of the two dates means. While he can rename any day, it doesn’t mean it will be an official holiday.

As The Hill reported, “Federal holidays are created through acts of Congress. In 2021, Congress voted to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, and former President Biden signed the bill into law.”

Then there is the issue that November 11 is already a federal holiday, Veterans Day. Initially, it was meant to honor those who served in the First World War, but it later expanded to honor all veterans. 

How it became an official holiday is more complicated.

President Woodrow Wilson had proclaimed the first commemoration of “Armistice Day” just a year after the guns fell silent in Europe. This is important because the fighting may have ended on November 11, 1918, but the Treaty of Versailles wasn’t concluded until June. 

Moreover, the U.S. Congress didn’t........

© The National Interest