Did Donald Trump just designate the month of March as "Women's History Month" by signing an executive order? No, that's not true: The formal observation of Women's History Month was started by Congress in 1987, an expansion of the previous statute designating Women's History Week. Part of the resolution reads: "The President is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such month with appropriate ceremonies and activities." On March 6, 2025, Trump signed the 2025 "Women's History Month" proclamation, as have seven presidents before him.
The misleading claim appeared in a now-deleted post (archived here) published on X on March 6, 2025. The post was captioned:
Trump just signed an Executive Order declaring March as "Womens History Month." Trump stands with women!
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Mar 07 16:07:31 2025 UTC)
By suggesting that this was an executive order (archived here), the social media post gives the false impression that Trump is the originator of Women's History Month. That is not the case. Women's History Month has been observed in March ever since it was expanded by Congress on March 12, 1987 (archived here) in a non-binding Resolution. The final paragraph of that resolution (pictured below) reads:
Now, therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the month of March, 1987, is designated as "Women's History Month", and the President is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe such month with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
(Source: govinfo.gov screenshot taken on Fri Mar 07 16:22:50 2025 UTC)
Ronald Reagan was the first president to sign a Women's History Month proclamation (archived here), on March 16, 1987.
The scene pictured in the X post shows Donald Trump issuing a proclamation (archived here) titled, "Women's History Month, 2025" on March 6, 2025.
The Library of Congress maintains a page on the website (archived here) titled, "Women's History Month: A Commemorative Observances Legal Research Guide" this includes the Executive Branch Documents (archived here) cataloguing all the proclamations issued by eight different presidents dating back to Carter, when Women's History Week was observed in 1980.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving executive orders can be found here.
