There is a faint rude thing about the US president who is being driven by a small number of Russian officials to create a nuclear threat on social media.
But that’s exactly what President Donald Trump has done now, ordering the relocation of two US nuclear submarines, allowing himself to appear rattle in the hollow saber rat of Dmitry Medvedev, the outspoken but long-separated former Russian president.
In a series of bold posts on social media, Medvedev, who styles himself as a toxic anti-Western critic in recent years, criticized Trump for closing the deadline in Russia for a peace deal in Ukraine, saying it was not between Russia and Ukraine, and “not between his country.”
In his provocative reference to the Soviet-era automatic nuclear retaliation system in Russia, the US President said, “We should remember how dangerous the legendary ‘dead hands’ are.
Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio plays a recent post from Russia, pointing out that Medvedev is no longer a Moscow decision maker. It is a view shared by many Russians, and Medvedev is widely seen as politically irrelevant and has little authority, Needless to say, it’s the power to launch a nuclear strike.
It brings questions about why Trump is involved with what he himself described as a “silly” statement and issues fierce public responses that ratchet the rhetoric of Washington and Moscow.
One possible answer is that it is convenient for Trump to look harsh on Moscow, without directly facing the true powers of President Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, but instead electing a public figure often referred to as “Little Dima” in Russia due to his small stature, or in fact, made concrete changes to the US nuclear stance.
Trump said his orders for two nuclear submarines “to be placed in the right area” were “a stupid, inflammatory statement that is just more than that.”
However, there are multiple US nuclear submarines armed with hundreds of nuclear warheads, patrolling the world’s oceans on certain days. Given the thousands of miles of missiles they carry and the vast size of Russia, relocation is unlikely to make a big difference in Russian ability to hit targets.
However, timing is still important.
Trump’s Middle Eastern envoy, Steve Witkov, will hold more consultations with Russian leaders in the coming days in his dual role as a makeshift Russian mediator. It is likely that he is seeking a ceasefire again as a deadline set by Trump, in order for the Kremlin to agree to peace in Ukraine or to face harsh tariffs.
The Kremlin does not realistically expect the Kremlin to stubbornly insist on achieving the military targets stated before ending the Ukrainian conflict. The latest escalating nuclear rhetoric is unlikely to change its hard position.
But again, the phantom of increased nuclear reserves may prove to be a useful distraction, as he threatened to do so, as Trump threatened to squeeze the potential out-of-pocket effects of imposing secondary sanctions on countries such as India and China that buy Russian oil.
In fact, distracting yourself from increasing political issues in your home may be a welcome by-product of the escalating core of the nuclear.
A story of a nuclear preparation for Russia, which has more atomic weapons than any other country in the world, could mask even more trivial domestic issues, such as the Epstein scandal.
Of course, mentions of nuclear escalation among the world’s largest nuclear superpowers have attracted serious attention. However, the broader relations between Washington and Moscow, albeit under new pressure, are not near nuclear conflict.
And while the apparently dim use of the nuclear threat by both countries may be of concern, it does not show that a nuclear conflict is ongoing.
