U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he sent two nuclear submarines to “appropriate areas” after a senior Russian official posted online about Russia’s nuclear capabilities and “a step toward war” with the United States.
Trump’s order has escalated dramatically with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as vice chairman of the Russian Security Council and is one of the most outspoken critics of the Western allies of the United States and Ukraine.
“I ordered the positioning of two nuclear submarines in the right areas just in case these stupid and inappropriate statements are more than that,” Trump wrote on his truth social networking site.
“Voice is very important and often leads to unexpected consequences, and I hope this won’t be one of them.”
Trump and Medvedev traded barbs throughout the week, saying Russia had agreed to a ceasefire in Ukraine “10 days from today” or were hit by tariffs, Trump said on Monday.
This deadline shortens the previous 50-day schedule.
Medvedev posted on X that day that Trump was playing the “Last Pass Complete Game” and warned that “every new Last Pass is a step towards war.”
Medvedev added: “Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”
Trump then posted on “Social Truth” earlier Thursday that Medvedev should “look at his words” and “enter into very dangerous territory!”
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Medvedev said on Thursday that Trump’s statement indicated that Russia should continue to adopt current policies, including Ukraine.
“If some of the words of the former Russian president trigger such a nervous reaction from the senior U.S. president, Russia is doing the right thing and will continue to move along its own path,” Medvedev said in an article on the telegram.
He added that Trump should remember, “how dangerous the legendary ‘dead hands could be,” referring to the secret semi-automatic Russian command system designed to launch Moscow’s nuclear missiles if it was eliminated in a beheading strike.
Medvedev ended his post with a crying emoji.
When Global News asked the Pentagon, the “appropriate area” of the nuclear submarine was handed over to the White House and Trump’s statement.
The move is the latest sign that Trump has been criticized for seeking close ties with Russia for trying to end the Ukrainian war and is losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin for rejecting the ceasefire.
Trump noted in another article on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have both lost thousands of soldiers on the battlefield since the beginning of the year, which he called “the ridiculous war.”
“That’s a lot of unnecessary deaths!” Trump wrote, pointing out Russian civilian deaths in Ukrainian cities.
Trump said on Thursday that Russia and India are one of Russia’s largest oil buyers and that “can put dead economies together because of everything I care about” and that it seems to restore U.S. business relations with Moscow.
“We have very few businesses with India, and their tariffs are too high, in the highest things in the world. Similarly, Russia and the United States do little. Let’s keep that way.”
– Documents with Reuters
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