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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has stated he has ordered the deployment of two nuclear submarines to “appropriate regions” in response to what he termed “highly provocative” remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President.
Trump indicated that this action was taken “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important and can often lead to unintended consequences; I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
In accordance with standard U.S. military protocol, Trump did not disclose the specific deployment locations of the submarines.
Medvedev’s recent threats against the U.S. followed Trump’s ultimatums to Moscow, demanding a ceasefire in Ukraine or facing significant sanctions.
Both Russia and the United States possess the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, including substantial fleets of nuclear submarines.
In a post on Truth Social Friday, Trump wrote: “Based on the highly provocative statements of the former president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions.”
The former U.S. president did not clarify whether his statement referred to nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines.
Speaking to reporters later on Friday, Trump said: “A threat was made, and we didn’t think it was appropriate. So I have to be very careful.”
“I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former president of Russia. And we’re going to protect our people.”
The Kremlin has yet to issue a public statement on the matter. However, Moscow’s stock market experienced a sharp decline following Trump’s remarks.
Trump and Medvedev have recently engaged in a series of personal attacks against each other on social media platforms.
This development follows Trump’s new deadline for Putin to end the war by August 8, a demand Putin has shown no indication of meeting.
Prior to this, Trump had set a “10 or 12” day deadline on Monday, and earlier in July, he threatened Russia with severe tariffs targeting its oil and other exports if Putin did not end the war within 50 days.
Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, accused Trump of playing “the ultimatum game with Russia” earlier this week.
In a post on X, Medvedev stated that “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.”
He also characterized Trump’s ultimatum as “theatrical” in July, asserting that “Russia didn’t care.”
In a Telegram post on Thursday, Medvedev warned of a “dead hand” threat, interpreted by some military analysts as a reference to the codename of Russia’s retaliatory nuclear strikes control system.
This was not the first time Trump responded to Medvedev’s comments. On Thursday, he described Medvedev as “the failed former president of Russia, who thinks he’s still president.”
Trump also cautioned Medvedev to “watch his words,” adding that “he’s entering very dangerous territory!”
Medvedev is a supporter of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022 and is an outspoken critic of the West.
The move comes as a weaker-than-expected jobs report stoked fears about tariffs.
The suspect, named as Michael Paul Brown, is believed to be “armed and dangerous”, police say.
The move comes a week after Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, met a top Justice Department official about the Epstein case.
There are pressures on both sides to give businesses a reprieve, but the tone remains markedly downbeat.
The visit with the IDF follows near daily reports of deadly shootings in the vicinity of the sites.
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