Celebration or campaigning? Trump rebrands history for the U.S.

I n a spirited but muddled attempt to reclaim patriotic pride, Donald Trump has unilaterally declared two “Victory Days” to honour U.S. roles in both world wars — motivated, in his own words, by indignation that other nations mark the occasion while the U.S. does not.

“They were celebrating... but us. And we’re the ones that won the war! We won the war. And they helped. But without us, they don’t win the war, we’re all speaking German. Without us, they’re speaking German, maybe a little Japanese, too,” Trump said in a speech to US troops at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

Trump recounted his reaction to the global 8 May commemorations:

“I’ll tell you just a little story, a week ago, May 8. I’d call up a certain country, and they said, ‘Oh, we’re celebrating the victory of World War II today, sir.’ ‘Oh, really?’ I’d speak to one of the presidents or prime ministers, or whatever, and they were so busy. ‘Oh yes, we’re celebrating the victory of World War II.’ Then I’d speak to another one, and they were celebrating.

“And the fact is Russia was celebrating, France was celebrating, everybody was celebrating but us. And we’re the ones that won the war! We won the war. And they helped. But without us they don’t win the war, we’re all speaking German. Without us, they’re speaking German, maybe a little Japanese, too. We won the war, and we’re the only ones that didn’t celebrate.”