Donald Trump’s Grotesque Lie About the US Role in the European Theater in World War II

Just when you think that Donald Trump has made the stupidest comment on social media — one completely divorced from reality — he decides to plumb greater depths of imbecility by demonstrating a profound ignorance of history. His Truth Social posting on World War II (see above) is so ridiculously wrong that I had to double check the date of the post to make sure this was not a belated April Fool’s prank.

So let’s review the history. World War II in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, known as V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day), when Nazi Germany officially surrendered to the Allied forces.

The unconditional surrender was signed on May 7, 1945, in Reims, France, with these signatories:

• General Alfred Jodl (Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces) signed for Germany.

• General Walter Bedell Smith (Chief of Staff for Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower) signed for the Western Allies.

• General Ivan Susloparov (Soviet liaison officer) signed for the USSR.

• Major General François Sevez (French representative) witnessed the signing.

• Terms: The document stipulated Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allies, effective May 8 at 11:01 PM Central European Time.

Joseph Stalin protested, rightly so, arguing that Soviet forces did the vast majority of the fighting to defeat the Nazis and that the Soviet Union had earned the right to preside over a more formal signing in Berlin, which took place on May 8, 1945. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signed for Germany in the presence of Allied representatives, including Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Although the surrender went into effect at 2301 hours Central European time on May 8, that corresponded to 0001 hours, May 9, in Moscow. Thus, while the May 7 Reims surrender was the first, the Berlin signing on May 8 is celebrated in the West as the official end of the war in Europe, while Russia commemorates the event on May 9.

Now for the facts about who had the heaviest lift — The Soviet Union inflicted at least 3–4 million German combat deaths (KIA+MIA), plus millions more wounded or captured. When including POW deaths, the toll rises to ~5 million. No other Allied nation came close to inflicting such losses on Nazi Germany. The US and Western Allies, by contrast, inflicted approximately 374,000 German military deaths, permanently disabled about 85,000, captured over 8 million German soldiers, and caused between 350,000 and 500,000 German civilian deaths through strategic bombing during World War II. Fear of falling into the hands of the Soviet army explains why so many German units scurried like frightened rats to the frontlines of the Western allies and surrendered to the US and British soldiers. The figure that ought to haunt the West is the number of German civilians killed by US and British bombings of cities — we killed more civilians than we did German combatants.

German Military Casualties vs. Western Allies

(North Africa, Italy, Western Europe, Strategic Bombing)

The Soviets and the Germans fought multiple, massive battles, that resulted in horrendous casualties for both sides. For the West, the Battle of the Bulge is the only engagement that came close to matching the Battle of Moscow, Stalingrad, the Siege of Leningrad, the Battle of Kursk and Operation Bagration.

Despite Western glorification of World War II as an heroic victory for the United States and Britain, both countries suffered relatively few casualties compared to what the Soviet soldiers and civilians experienced. In terms of combat deaths, the United States killed-in-action for both the European and Pacific theaters totaled less than 300,000. Here is the breakdown:

Soviet combat fatalities for its soldiers, sailors and airmen is estimated between 8.1 and 11 million. Even more shocking is that as estimated 16 million to 19 million civilians were killed by the Nazis.

That is why I am appalled and disgusted by Trump’s claim that: nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery or military brillance. The facts — irrefutable facts — prove otherwise, at least in the war against the Nazis. The Soviets, both military and civilians, surpassed the United States on every count.

If Trump is looking to celebrate a remarkable military accomplishment, he should have focused on the War in the Pacific. In that case, the United States lost 111,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers in combat compared to staggering Japanese losses — i.e., 2.1 to 2.3 million. In other words, for every American combat casualty, 20 Japanese military personnel perished.

I imagine that Trump’s social media rant has been met in Russia by a combination of shock and bewilderment. It has undermined any confidence that Trump is a smart, well-informed person. To put it bluntly, he showed his ass.

I discussed this, as well as developments in West Asia and China, with Nima and Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson and, later in the day, with Judge Napolitano and Ray McGovern.