The White House and has been strongly criticised on social media for ignoring the efforts of other Allied countries in World War II apart from the US and Great Britain.
In a tweet that was posted as part of Friday's VE Day celebrations, Trump's White House said:
On May 8 1945, America and Great Britain had victory over the Nazis!
Unsurprisingly, the quote comes from a Donald Trump speech which is featured in the video that the White House shared on 8 May.
On May 8, 1945, America and Great Britain had victory over the Nazis! "America's spirit will always win. In the e… https://t.co/8Beu2zdZog— The White House 45 Archived (@The White House 45 Archived) 1588966393
The problem here is that it wasn't just the United States and the UK that achieved victory over Nazi Germany in Europe on that specific date.
Many European Allied countries were involved in the effort against the Nazis including the Soviet Union, Free France, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Greece and Yugoslavia, to name but a few.
The tweet also ignores the efforts of other non-European countries in the war such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India.
This major oversight has drawn a lot of criticism for Trump and the White House for sharing a revisionist history of World War II, especially ignoring the Soviet Union's contribution, who are estimated to have lost as many as 11 million soldiers in the war.
Holy crap - what a snub to the Canadians, Russians, Aussies (and free French, Belgians, Poles etc). https://t.co/IR1KiRRbG3— Dr Mike Galsworthy (@Dr Mike Galsworthy) 1589027371
What flag does Washington think this is flying over Berlin? #FakeNews #VEDay #wellmeetagain #BlackMarketMovies… https://t.co/zcbdproQIT— Afshin Rattansi (@Afshin Rattansi) 1588983861
Gross take, ignoring other Allies, in particular the USSR https://t.co/Uafzb0uPu1— Steve Peers (@Steve Peers) 1589022989
Bizarre to leave out the numerous other countries that fought the Nazis. Russia alone lost over 25 million. https://t.co/IfbfSYLHL5— Blooloop (@Blooloop) 1589095482
91% of the total amount of soldiers who died fighting the fascist axis powers were from the Soviet Union, China and… https://t.co/t5DNO070MK— Organize, Educate, Agitate! ☠(@Organize, Educate, Agitate! â˜) 1589018231
The White House (and Trump) either don't know or don't care that victory over the Nazis in WWII involved 17 other a… https://t.co/KhgM524RHj— Stephen Schwartz (@Stephen Schwartz) 1589046118
This tweet from the US @WhiteHouse is incredible. For every American soldier killed in WW2, 80 Soviet soldiers died… https://t.co/tIBUse1dja— Bryan MacDonald (@Bryan MacDonald) 1588974932
My American friends may not know: •By war’s end Canada had world's 4th largest air force and 5th largest navy •The… https://t.co/42kNva7Qo0— Boyd Erman (@Boyd Erman) 1589070065
Could've sworn there were other countries involved. https://t.co/Hdmw39bPZw— David Cochrane (@David Cochrane) 1589061096
This year marked the 75th anniversary of VE Day and this was unfortunately not the only controversy associated with the event.
Street parties took place across the United Kingdom with some appearing to ignore social distancing rules and potentially contributing to the spread of coronavirus.