Trump sends submarines near Russia after Medvedev's threat

President Trump said Friday he ordered two nuclear submarines “to be positioned in the appropriate regions” after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posted a threatening message.

Mr. Trump said he sent the subs “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,” he posted on social media.

The president’s post is an escalation of words between the two.

Mr. Medvedev, responding to a Thursday Truth Social post from Mr. Trump calling him “the failed former President of Russia,” referenced Russia’s Soviet-era nuclear capabilities.

He wrote that Mr. Trump should picture the show “The Walking Dead” “as well as how dangerous a ’dead hand’ that does not exist in nature can be.”

A dead hand was a Cold War automatic nuclear weapon control system.

Mr. Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, was president from 2008-12.

This all comes as Mr. Trump has grown increasingly critical of Russia’s war with Ukraine, something he vowed during last year’s campaign to end on his first day in office.

Mr. Trump this week shortened his deadline to 10 days for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine or face severe tariffs. 

“Ten days from today, and then, you know, we’re going to put on tariffs and stuff,”  Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “I don’t know if it’s going to affect Russia because he wants to, obviously, probably keep the war going, but we’re going to put on tariffs and various things that you put on. It may or may not affect them.”