President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he has directed two nuclear-equipped submarines into the waters off Russia following provocative remarks by a top official to Vladimir Putin.
Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, warned on Monday that “each new ultimatum” issued by President Trump to end the war in Ukraine “is a threat and a step towards war.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump replied by directing both U.S. subs to be “positioned in the appropriate regions, 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 added.
Tensions between the U.S. and Russia are at a breaking point since President Trump’s declaration this week that he is giving Putin less than 10 days to seek an end to the three-year conflict. Trump has for weeks mused openly that Putin has not been forthright in their calls about how to reach a resolution.
“I go home. I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? another city was just hit,’” he told reporters last month.
“There’s times I’d get home. I’d say, ‘First lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished.’ And then I’ll turn on the television, or she’ll say to me one time, ‘Wow, that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home,’” Trump said, recalling another conversation. “I’d say, ‘What?’”

Medvedev upped the stakes by directly stating on X that Trump’s provocations are leading toward war, “not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”
“Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!” he added.
If Russia does not reach a deal to end the war, Trump has vowed to unleash “secondary tariffs” on any country doing business with Russia, a consequence that would be disastrous for the country’s oil sector, which is heavily reliant on sales to Europe.
Trump also took a shot at Russia’s trading partnership with India, an oasis amid its reclusive relationship with much of the western world.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote, per CNBC. “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.”
“Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together,” Trump said. “Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”