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President Donald Trump hammered back at former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s warnings about war with the United States, telling the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council to “watch his words.”
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social at midnight Thursday. “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!”
In response to Trump’s post, Medvedev referenced Russia’s “Dead Hand” – the Cold War-era automated nuclear retaliation system developed by the Soviet Union.
“If a few words from a former Russian president provoke such a nervous reaction from the supposedly mighty President of the United States, then clearly Russia is in the right – and will continue on its chosen path,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram.
President Donald Trump talks to the media as he meets with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump Turnberry golf club on July 28, 2025, in Scotland. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
“And as for all that talk about the ‘dead economies’ of India and Russia, or about ‘venturing into dangerous territory’ – well, maybe he should rewatch some of his favorite zombie movies,” he added. “And also remember just how dangerous the supposedly mythical ‘Dead Hand’ system can be.”
In theory, the “Dead Hand,” described by the West during the 1980s as a Russian doomsday device, is meant to guarantee a massive retaliatory nuclear strike even if Moscow’s leadership is destroyed or incapacitated.
While in Scotland on Monday, Trump warned during public remarks that Russian President Vladimir Putin had 10 or 12 days to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine, shortening a previous 50-day deadline he issued earlier this month. If Russia does not, Trump promised more “sanctions, tariffs, and maybe secondary tariffs” against Moscow and the purchasers of Russian goods and energy. He lamented that repeated talks with Putin have resulted in little progress toward peace.
“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10,” Medvedev complained in a post to X earlier this week. “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 on Wednesday announced a 25% tariff on imports from India – one of the biggest consumers of Russian oil, next to China – starting on Aug. 1. The president described India as a “friend,” but slammed the South Asian country’s “strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary” trade barriers. Trump vowed other unspecified “penalties” against India for buying most of its military equipment from Russia and Russian energy “at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE.”
During an unrelated press conference, Trump noted that India and Russia are founding members of BRICS, originally formed as a counterweight to Western institutions.
BRICS is “basically a group of countries that are anti-the United States and India is a member of that, if you can believe it. It’s an attack on the dollar. And we’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar,” Trump said. “We have a tremendous deficit.”
Former Russian President, Deputy Chairman of the Securuty Council Dmitry Medvedev during the Board of the Prosecutor-General Main Office, March 19, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. Putin visited an annual meeting with prosecutors. (Contributor/Getty Images)
FROM TALK TO TACTICS: TRUMP PIVOTS ON RUSSIA STRATEGY TO END WAR
In recent days, Medvedev has also shredded the framework of the trade deal Trump reached with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during his recent trip to Scotland.
Trump has repeatedly communicated that trade deals with other countries would be contingent on foreign policy alignment with the United States.
For example, after Canada announced it was backing Palestinian statehood amid Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Trump wrote Thursday, “That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”
Trump, meanwhile, on Thursday celebrated this reciprocal tariffs plan after telling reporters on Wednesday that they brought “billions” of dollars into the U.S. economy.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin meets with German Gref, the CEO of Russia’s largest Sber bank, in Moscow on July 29, 2025. (MIKHAIL METZEL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“Tariffs are making America GREAT & RICH Again,” Trump wrote on social media. “They were successfully used against the USA for decades and, coupled with really dumb, pathetic, and crooked politicians, we’re having a devastating impact on the future, and even the survival, of our country. Now the tide has completely turned, and America has successfully countered this onslaught of Tariffs used against it.”
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“ONE YEAR AGO, AMERICA WAS A DEAD COUNTRY, NOW IT IS THE ‘HOTTEST’ COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!” Trump added.