‘A step towards war’

Russia’s ex-President Dmitry Medvedev gets to nuclear threats in record time in latest social media dust-up with Trump

Dmitry Medvedev — Russia’s onetime reformist president and current Security Council deputy chairman — made headlines this week with a string of frantic social media posts that drew sharp reactions from U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and President Donald Trump. The quarrel came against the backdrop of Trump’s decision to impose major tariffs on India, in addition to an unspecified “penalty” against New Delhi for its purchase of Russian energy resources and weapons. Meduza recaps how the spat unfolded.

On July 28, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that he was “not so interested” in talking to Vladimir Putin anymore, having grown tired of the gulf between what the Russian president says over the phone and his actions immediately afterward.

“We have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversations, and then people die [from Russian strikes in Ukraine] the following night,” Trump lamented. He then moved up the deadline he had previously given Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine, changing it from early September to “about 10 or 12 days from today.”

The Kremlin itself didn’t immediately react to Trump’s statements. However, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former President Dmitry Medvedev quickly sounded off on X. “Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10,” Medvedev wrote.

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. Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!

Trump didn’t reply to Medvedev directly, but his ally Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, also a prolific and combative social media user, did:

To those in Russia who believe that President Trump is not serious about ending the bloodbath between Russia and Ukraine:

You and your customers will soon be sadly mistaken. You will also soon see that Joe Biden is no longer president.

Get to the peace table.

Medvedev fired back less than an hour later:

It’s not for you or Trump to dictate when to ‘get at the peace table.’ Negotiations will end when all the objectives of our military operation have been achieved. Work on America first, gramps!

That message finally prompted a direct response from Trump. Around midnight D.C. time on July 31 — just hours after announcing a “penalty” against India for its purchases of Russian energy and weapons — he posted on Truth Social:

I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World. Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!

Medvedev’s next post came several hours later and was published only on Telegram. “About Trump’s threats against me on his personal ‘Truth’ social media network, which he’s banned in our country,” Medvedev wrote.

If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path.

And about India’s and Russia’s ‘dead economies’ and ‘entering very dangerous territory’ – well, let him remember his favorite movies about ‘the walking dead,’ as well as how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be. 😂

The “Dead Hand” refers to a Russian nuclear command system dating back to the Cold War that’s designed to automatically launch a retaliatory strike if the country’s leadership were incapacitated.

Trump has yet to comment on Medvedev’s latest remarks.