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.

But Russia is a different case, and Mr. Trump has often talked about the fearsome power of nuclear weapons, something he contends he learned about from an uncle who was on the MIT faculty. So while President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has made threats about putting nuclear forces on alert during the opening days of the Ukraine war, and may have been preparing to use a tactical nuclear weapon in the fall of 2022 against a Ukrainian military base, the U.S. has never responded.

Mr. Medvedev is a good foil for Mr. Trump; he regularly issues threats against the United States, but is essentially powerless. Mr. Trump has referred to Mr. Medvedev’s martial-sounding statements several times in the past week.

It was not clear what kind of nuclear submarines Mr. Trump was referencing. The U.S. has nuclear-powered attack submarines that search for targets, but it also has far larger, nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines. Those don’t need to be repositioned; they can reach targets thousands of miles away.

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Item 1 of 2 U.S. President Donald Trump speaks after signing the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in “the appropriate regions” in response to statements from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

“Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev … 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 a social media post.

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He added: “Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

He did not specify what he meant by “nuclear submarines.” Submarines may be nuclear-powered, or armed with nuclear missiles.

It is extremely rare for the U.S. military to discuss the deployment and location of U.S. submarines given their sensitive mission in nuclear deterrence. The U.S. Navy declined comment. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump and Medvedev, who is deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, have traded taunts in recent days after Trump on Tuesday said Russia had ” 10 days from today ” to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or be hit with tariffs, along with its oil buyers.

Medvedev on Thursday said Trump should remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort, after Trump told Medvedev to “watch his words.”

Moscow, which has set out its own terms for peace in Ukraine, has given no indication that it will comply with Trump’s deadline of August 8.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow hoped for more peace talks with Ukraine but that the momentum of the war was in its favor. He made no reference to the deadline.

Trump, who in the past touted good relations with Putin, has expressed mounting frustration with the Russian leader, accusing him of “bullshit” and describing Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine as disgusting.

Medvedev has emerged as one of the Kremlin’s most outspoken anti-Western hawks since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. Kremlin critics deride him as an irresponsible loose cannon, though some Western diplomats say his statements illustrate the thinking in senior Kremlin policy-making circles.

Trump also rebuked Medvedev in July, accusing him of throwing around the “N (nuclear) word” after the Russian official criticized U.S. strikes on Iran and said “a number of countries” were ready to supply Iran with nuclear warheads. “I guess that’s why Putin’s ‘THE BOSS'”, Trump said at the time.

The U.S. president took office in January having promised to end the Ukraine war on Day One, but has not been able to get Moscow to agree to a ceasefire.

Only six countries operate nuclear-powered submarines: the U.S., the UK, Russia, China, France and India.

The U.S. Navy has 71 commissioned submarines including 53 fast attack submarines, 14 ballistic-missile submarines, and four guided-missile submarines. All of them are nuclear-powered, but only some carry nuclear weapon-tipped missiles.

Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto, and Phil Stewart, Mike Stone and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

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Republicans are betting that they can defend their slim congressional majorities in next year’s midterm elections, and the party’s biggest donors are putting their chips on the table, too.

New fundraising reports filed Thursday for outside groups show that GOP megadonors are engaged in the fight for Congress, steering $59.2 million to the main two super PACs involved in House and Senate races aligned with GOP leadership, Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, throughout the first six months of the year.

The two major super PACs aligned with Democratic congressional leadership, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC, raised $38.6 million combined.

The GOP groups had $62 million left in their accounts as of June 30, while the Democratic groups had $35.8 million. And neither those figures nor the totals raised include all of the groups’ nonprofit arms, which can also raise unlimited funds but do not have to disclose their donors.

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WASHINGTON — President Trump said Friday he had ordered two nuclear submarines moved closer to Russia in response to “highly provocative statements” by a top Kremlin official.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, had taunted Trump directly in a recent post on X, saying “each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war.”

“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, without revealing the location of the vessels.

4 President Trump fired back after Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev made “highly provocative statements.” REUTERS

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,” he added.

Trump didn’t say whether a specific statement from Medvedev prompted the retaliation, as the Kremlin official has been on an anti-American tirade for weeks.

The president also didn’t specify whether he referred to nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. The location of submarines is usually kept secret by the military, so the public may never know where or whether the ships will be moved.

The Pentagon referred requests for additional information to the White House, which declined to comment on the record.

Trump’s threat is the first time he’s suggested using the nuclear option in his battle with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has defied America’s warnings about continuing Russia’s war on Ukraine.

4 Medvedev, a close ally of Putin and deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, taunted Trump in a series of posts on X. ZUMAPRESS.com

In his latest move, Trump threatened Russia with secondary sanctions if Moscow does not stop its ongoing war on Ukraine by Aug. 8.

Medvedev wrote in his post that Trump “should remember two things” as he issues his threats on Moscow — that “Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran” and that “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!” Medvedev mocked in reference to Trump’s nickname ofr former President Joe Biden.

4 The US is repositioning submarines to send a message to Russia as frustration over the lack of a cease-fire grows. dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

The former Russian president often makes aggressive remarks on social media and is less diplomatic toward the US than Putin in his public comments — but is largely seen as having a ceremonial role with little actual influence.

Medvedev served as president from 2008 to 2012 and was widely seen as a puppet of Putin, who at the time was only allowed to serve two terms in a row.

While the Russian president has held off on commenting on Trump’s upcoming sanctions, Medvedev has taken to X numerous times to directly condemn the threat.

4 President Trump announced the repositioning with a post on Truth Social.

“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care,” Medvedev wrote on July 15.

Medvedev, 59, was even more belligerent under Biden, arguing in November of 2024 that if the US were to send nuclear weapons to Ukraine, then Russia would have grounds to respond with an atomic attack.

He also raged against Trump directing the US military to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities, writing on June 22, “at this rate, Trump can forget about the Nobel Peace Prize — not even with how rigged it has become. What a way to kick things off, Mr. President. Congratulations!”

Early Thursday morning, the US president had described Medvedev as the “failed former President of Russia” and warned him to “watch his words.”

Medvedev responded hours later by writing, “Russia is right on everything and will continue to go its own way.”

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to the “appropriate regions” in response to threats from former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

“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 a social media post that called Medvedev’s statements highly provocative.

“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences. I hope this will not be one of those instances.”

Trump did not say in his post whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the deployment locations, which are kept secret by the US military.

It wasn’t immediately clear what impact Trump’s order would have on US nuclear subs, which are routinely on patrol in the world’s hotspots, but it comes at a delicate moment in the Trump administration’s relations with Moscow.

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Trump has said that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. He cut his 50-day deadline for action to 10 days, with that window set to expire next week.

The post about the sub repositioning came after Trump, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, had posted that Medvedev was a “failed former President of Russia” and warned him to “watch his words.” Medvedev responded hours later by writing, “Russia is right on everything and will continue to go its own way.”

Days ago, Medvedev accused Trump of engaging in a “game of ultimatums” and reminded him that Russia possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to “watch his words.”

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Medvedev was president from 2008 to 2012, while Putin was barred from seeking a second consecutive term but stepped aside to let him run again. Now deputy chairman of Russia’s National Security Council, which Putin chairs, Medvedev has been known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since the start of the war in 2022, a U-turn from his presidency, when he was seen as liberal and progressive.

He has frequently wielded nuclear threats and lobbed insults at Western leaders on social media. Some observers have argued that with his extravagant rhetoric, Medvedev is seeking to score political points with Putin and Russian military hawks.

Trump and Medvedev have gotten into online spats before.

On July 15, after Trump announced plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons via its NATO allies and threatened additional tariffs against Moscow, Medvedev posted, “Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”

Earlier this week, he wrote, “Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10,” and added, “He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”