President Donald Trump declared that he had instructed the deployment of two U.S. nuclear submarines in response to increasing tensions and exchanges with a top Russian figure regarding his ultimatum to terminate Russia’s involvement in Ukraine.
The relocation of nuclear submarines to specific areas seems largely symbolic since the U.S. maintains a fleet of numerous nuclear-powered submarines that are perpetually prepared for action in case of a confrontation.
Nevertheless, it notches up the tensions once again after Trump announced he was moving up his ultimatum for Russia to agree to end the war.
Should Russia not reach a peace agreement by the conclusion of the upcoming week, Trump stated he would enforce severe ‘secondary sanctions’ on countries that conduct trade with Russia.
Trump decided to move these submarines following ‘highly provocative comments’ from Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently the deputy of Russia’s Security Council.
He had called Trump’s sanctions threat a clear ‘step toward war,’ clearly incensing the president.
‘I have commanded the positioning of two nuclear submarines in strategic regions as a precaution in case these reckless and inflammatory declarations are more than mere talk,’ Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday afternoon.
‘Words carry significant weight and can sometimes result in unforeseen outcomes, and I trust this will not be one of those cases. I appreciate your attention to this situation!’
‘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 said, in his latest jab at a top Russian official
The Ohio-class guided missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729)
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.
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 was not specific about where the subs were being deployed but it is expected to be near Russia
Medvedev, who has served as both the President and Prime Minister of Russia , earlier this week warned Trump that any ultimatums he delivers are considered ‘a threat and a step toward war’
Cars damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes burn, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 31, 2025
Trump has referenced comments from first lady Melania Trump about the impact of the war on children
‘All disappointments come from inflated expectations,’ said Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in response to Trump’s expedited deadline issued Monday
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.’
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.
Captain Eric Hunter, Commanding Officer of the USS Ohio
The control station is seen aboard the USS Ohio, the first Ohio-class submarine
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.
