Trump says nuclear submarines are 'in the region' amid tension with Russia
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump says the nuclear submarines he said he was deploying in response to threatening comments from Russia's former president are "in the region." Trump also signaled that he's preparing to hit Moscow with economic sanctions over its war against Ukraine.
'I've already put out a statement, the answer is, they are in the region," Trump told reporters traveling with him in New Jersey before he boarded Air Force One.
Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to the "appropriate region" on Aug. 1 after former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev referenced Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities in a social media post that heightened tension with the U.S. leader.
The dispute stemmed from Trump's ultimatum to Russia last month: make peace with Ukraine or brace for sanctions and secondary tariffs aimed at choking off the country's oil revenue. He gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a 50 day-deadline, which he later revised to Aug. 8.
Trump offers Putin an ultimatum: Senate pressure builds to sanction Russia
The president told reporters on Aug. 3 that if the deadline arrives and Russia has not agreed to a ceasefire, "there'll be sanctions."
"But they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions," he added. "You know, they're wily characters. ... So we'll see what happens."
Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff had been expected to visit Russia before the deadline, but the president signaled to reporters that trip had not yet taken place.
He said Witkoff is currently focused on addressing starvation in Gaza, but could go to Russia later in the week.
Trump says he ordered 2 nuclear subs: They're heading to 'appropriate regions' after Russia nuclear threats
The president stressed the need for a deal in Ukraine in which people stop being killed.
"And now we're adding towns, where they're being hit by missiles," Trump said.
Medvedev serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. He said in a July 28 post on X that Trump should remember that "each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country."
Trump hit back in a Truth Social post that said: "Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!"
After Medvedev said Trump should remember "how dangerous the fabled 'Dead Hand' can be," in a post on the messaging app Telegram that referenced the Soviet Union's doomsday nuclear system, the U.S. president said he would reposition the submarines.
Calling the comments "highly provocative," Trump said on Truth Social that he was taking action, "just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Border agents directed to stop deportations under Trump's asylum ban after court order, CBS News reports
By Christian Martinez (Reuters) -U.S. border agents were directed to stop deportations under President Donald Trump's asylum ban, CBS News reported Monday citing two unnamed Department of Homeland Security officials. The direction comes after a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit on Friday partially granted an order that limited the asylum ban, saying it cannot be used to entirely suspend humanitarian protections for asylum seekers, according to CBS. Officials at Customs and Border Protection were instructed this weekend to stop deportations Trump's asylum ban and process migrants under U.S. immigration law, CBS said. Last month, a lower court judge blocked Trump's ban on asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, saying that Trump had exceeded his authority when he issued a proclamation declaring illegal immigration an emergency and setting aside existing legal processes. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the challenge to Trump's asylum ban in February on behalf of three advocacy groups and migrants denied access to asylum, arguing the broad ban violated U.S. laws and international treaties. Trump has stepped up arrests of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, cracked down on unlawful border crossings and stripped legal status from hundreds of thousands of migrants since January 20. He has vowed to deport millions of people in the country illegally even as the administration has faced dozens of lawsuits across the country for its tactics.
New York Times
24 minutes ago
- New York Times
A Nuclear Reactor on the Moon? Come Again?
The acting administrator of NASA has issued a directive to fast-track efforts to put a nuclear reactor on the moon. 'To properly advance this critical technology to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly,' Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation whom President Trump appointed last month as temporary leader of the space agency, wrote in the directive, which was sent out on Thursday. Politico was first to report on the directive. In it, Mr. Duffy cites plans by China and Russia to put a reactor on the moon by the mid-2030s as part of a partnership to build a base there. If they were first, China and Russia 'could potentially declare a keep-out zone' that would inhibit what the United States could do there, Mr. Duffy said. The directive calls for the appointment of a NASA official to oversee the effort within 30 days and for a request seeking proposals from commercial companies to be issued within 60 days. The reactor will be required to generate at least 100 kilowatts of electrical power — enough for about 80 households in the United States — and to be ready to launch in late 2029. One lunar day lasts four weeks on Earth — two weeks of continual sunshine followed by two weeks of cold darkness. That harsh cycle makes it difficult for a spacecraft or a moon base to survive with just solar panels and batteries. Current exploration efforts, both by NASA and by the Chinese-Russian partnership, are focusing on the south polar region, where the sun is never high over the horizon and the bottoms of some craters lie in permanent shadows. Over the years, NASA has financed nuclear reactor research, including the awarding of three $5 million contracts in 2022 to companies developing initial designs. Those designs were smaller, producing 40 kilowatts and weighing under six metric tons. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
24 minutes ago
- New York Times
Marjorie Taylor Greene Asks for George Santos's Sentence to Be Commuted
George Santos, the disgraced former congressman and notorious fabulist who pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after being expelled from the House, has been in federal prison for 11 days on a sentence of more than seven years. On Monday, one of his former colleagues began a formal effort to get him out. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the brash Georgia Republican and MAGA adherent, sent a letter to the Justice Department's pardon attorney asking that Mr. Santos's 87-month prison term be commuted, calling it 'excessive' and a 'grave injustice.' Ms. Greene's letter came just days after President Trump, who has doled out pardons or clemency to staunch supporters and others favored by his right-wing base, did not rule out offering a pardon to Mr. Santos, saying only that he had not been asked. 'Nobody's talked to me about it,' Mr. Trump said on Friday in an interview on the right-wing channel Newsmax. Still, the president, who is known for his own exaggerations and outright falsehoods, acknowledged Mr. Santos's reputation. 'He lied like hell,' Mr. Trump said. 'And I didn't know him, but he was 100 percent for Trump.' It was an accurate assessment. Mr. Santos, 37, rode into Congress in January 2023 as the object of national scorn after The New York Times and other outlets uncovered that he had fabricated much of his résumé, including a booming Wall Street career and ties to Sept. 11 and the Holocaust. He was ejected that December, after three-quarters of the House voted to expel him. But during his 11-month stint in Congress, Mr. Santos, a Republican from New York, frequently aligned with hard-right lawmakers like Ms. Greene. And even before he took office, Mr. Santos was a reliable Trump loyalist. After both men lost their elections in 2020, Mr. Santos repeated the president's debunked claims of election fraud and falsely insisted that he, too, had an election stolen from him. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
