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President Donald Trump on Friday said he was redeploying a pair of American “nuclear submarines” in response to belligerent statements made on X by former Russian president Dimitri Medvedev earlier this week.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump said he was ordering the American warships to “the appropriate regions” due to what he called “the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia” and noted Medvedev’s status as a deputy chair of the Russian national security council.
Trump said the move was a precautionary measure “just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that.”
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,” he added.
The USS Nevada, an Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine, can carry up to 20 nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles (US Navy)
The president’s announcement comes just days after Medvedev took to X to respond to Trump’s threat of secondary sanctions if Russia does not end its’ three-year-old war against Ukraine within a matter of days.
The former Russian president said Trump should “remember” that Russia “isn’t Israel or even Iran” and characterized Trump’s ultimatum as “a threat and a step towards war” between Russia and the United States.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s use of the term “nuclear submarines” was referring to deploying Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines that form one third of America’s nuclear deterrence “triad” or the Los Angeles and Virginia-class fast-attack submarines that are designed to hunt down and destroy enemy ships and submarines.
The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking to clarify which type of submarine Trump was referencing.
Both the ballistic missile and fast-attack boats are nuclear powered, but only the Ohio-class missile submarines are known to carry nuclear weapons.
The president’s claim to be ordering American submarines to a particular region is highly unusual because the vessels’ locations are never publicized.
The U.S. Navy currently operates 14 Ohio-class subs that each carry 20 Trident D5 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles which can be equipped with multiple thermonuclear warheads.
Four additional Ohio-class boats have been converted to carry Tomahawk cruise missiles with conventional warheads.