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Politics|Trump Orders Subs Closer to Russia in Rare Nuclear Threat
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/us/politics/trump-nuclear-submarines-russia.html
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In a social media post, the president described the move as a deterrent prompted by threats by a former Russian leader. It is unclear if any submarines did actually change position.
David E. Sanger reports on the White House and national security, and frequently writes on nuclear issues. b
Aug. 1, 2025, 2:04 p.m. ET
President Trump said on his social media feed on Friday that he had “ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned” in regions within reach of Russia, a rare threat of nuclear escalation that he said was prompted by online threats from Russia’s former president, Dmitri Medvedev.
Mr. Trump said he had ordered the submarines “to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.” He added: Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
Mr. Medvedev, who often serves as something of an online attack dog for the Kremlin, had said in a social media post of his own on Thursday that Mr. Trump should picture the apocalyptic television series “The Walking Dead” and referred to the Soviet Union’s system for launching a last-ditch, automatic nuclear strike.
Because nuclear submarine movements are among the Pentagon’s most closely held tactical maneuvers, it will most likely prove impossible to know if Mr. Trump is truly repositioning the submarines, or just trying to make a point.
But in Mr. Trump’s sudden and escalating confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, it is the first time he has referenced the American nuclear arsenal, much less threatened to reposition it. Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he intends to impose new sanctions on Russia over its unwillingness to wind down its war in Ukraine, the latest step in his gradual shift toward a more antagonistic stance toward the Kremlin.
Still, such public flexing of nuclear muscles is rare even for Mr. Trump, who last made explicit nuclear threats to Kim Jong Un of North Korea early in his first term, in 2018. At that time he said his “nuclear button” was “much bigger and more powerful” than Mr. Kim’s. That exchange ultimately led to a diplomatic opening to Mr. Kim, three meetings between the two leaders — and a complete failure of the effort to get the North Korean leader to give up his nuclear arsenal, which is now larger than ever.
