Donald Trump says US nuclear attack submarines are now 'closer to Russia' after he re-deployed them over Kremlin's 'foolish and inflammatory' taunts
The move of the nuclear submarines to 'appropriate regions', which the US President described as a 'terrible situation', appeared to be symbolic – the U.S. already has a fleet of dozens of nuclear-powered subs that are constantly ready to strike in the event of a conflict.
But tensions notched up another level as Trump admitted they were getting closer.
'They are closer to Russia yeah, it's a terrible situation,' he told Newsmax.
It increases the tension once again after Trump announced he was moving up his ultimatum for Russia to agree to end the war.
'We had to do that. We just have to be careful. And a threat was made and we didn't think it was appropriate. So I have to be very careful,' Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Friday for a weekend at his New Jersey golf club.
'A threat was made by a former president of Russia, and we're going to protect our people,' he added.
If Russia fails to strike a peace deal by the end of next week, Trump said he will impose punishing 'secondary sanctions' on nations who trade with Russia.
Trump made the decision to deploy the submarines after 'highly provocative statements' of Russia's ex-President Dmitry Medvedev - who now serves as deputy of Russia's Security Council.
The United States has a total of 14 Ohio Class nuclear-powered submarines, each capable of carrying up to 24 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles that can deliver multiple thermonuclear warheads up to 4,600 miles.
Between 8 and 10 Ohio Class submarines are deployed at any one time, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative arms control group.
Medvedev had called Trump's sanctions threat a clear 'step toward war,' clearly incensing the president.
'I have ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,' Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday afternoon.
'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!'
Medvedev, the former president of Russia who stepped aside when Vladimir Putin took a break from the top post, drew Trump's ire with his own post this week.
'Trump's playing the ultimatum game with Russia…Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don't go down the Sleepy Joe road!' he wrote.
The United States has a total of 14 Ohio Class nuclear-powered submarines, each capable of carrying up to 24 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles
Trump then tore into the Russian with angry posts around midnight Thursday.
'Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory,' Trump wrote.
Trump's jabs at Medvedev, who is often a caustic critic of U.S. policy, allows him to steer clear of Putin – with whom Trump has shown obvious frustration in recent weeks, despite Trump often referring him to him as someone he can 'get along with.'
Trump has lamented apparently positive phone conversations with Putin followed within hours by Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns.
Trump's threats come after Russia launched yet another devastating attack on Kyiv overnight, which killed dozens of people and a six-year-old boy.
Russia has routinely been sending swarms of hundreds of drones to attack Ukraine, with houses and apartment buildings suffering regular blasts.
An estimated 31 people were killed and 150 injured during Thursday's attacks.
Wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in response while posting a video: 'Kyiv. Missile strike. Directly into a residential building. People under the rubble. All services are on site. Russian terrorists.'
'All disappointments come from inflated expectations,' said Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in response to Trump's expedited deadline issued Monday
In his own first public comments since Trump threw down his abbreviated ultimatum, Putin criticized 'inflated' expectations about ending a war he ordered in 2022 by launching a cross-border attack on Russia's neighbor.
'All disappointments come from inflated expectations,' Putin said. 'In order to solve the issue in a peaceful way, we need deep conversations, not in public, but in the silence of a negotiating process.'
Trump's reference to nuclear subs suggests both their stealth and massive firepower.
Each of the 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile subs carries up to 20 Trident II missiles, with a range of up to 7,500 miles and up to eight nuclear warheads, with 160 warheads in total.
The warheads are capable of causing a 475-kiloton explosion, vastly more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Trump said last month at the White House while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that first lady Melania Trump had taken to raising the issue of the toll on civilians.
'I go home, I tell the first lady, "You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation." And she said, "Oh really? Another city was just hit,"' Trump told reporters.
Those comments coincided with an increasingly tough verbal posture on Putin from the president, who has now threatened to slap new sanctions on Russia as well as its trading partners.
Just weeks ago, the Pentagon had imposed a temporary freeze on arms transfers to Ukraine, reflecting a move in Trump's administration away from the pro-Ukraine position of President Biden's, which shoveled billions of military aid to Kyiv after Moscow's invasion.
Trump and his team, meanwhile, have been fighting a rhetorical battle over a 2017 intelligence assessment that Russia preferred Trump in the 2016 elections.
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