Trump Threatens Russia’s ‘Failed Former President’ Medvedev Who Better ‘Watch His Words’

It’s probably not a good thing when the verbal brinkmanship which has long been on display between the world’s nuclear superpowers sees outspoken Russian hawk and firebrand Dmitri Medvedev directly clash with President Trump.

President Trump, in an unusual direct call-out of the Kremlin national security official (for the second time, after an earlier July exchange of words) – and which was issued on Truth Social at midnight – called Medvedev a “failed former President of Russia” who had better “watch his words.” 

Medvedev had warned Tuesday in the wake of Trump reducing a deadline for Russia to agree a Ukraine peace settlement down to ten days that ”Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran” and so “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with (Trump’s) own country.”

This had initially garnered a harsh response from Senator Lindsey Graham, to which Medvedev had responded with characteristic sarcasm, “Work on America first, gramps!”

After Trump jumped in overnight, it took a mere three hours – by then morning in Moscow – for Medvedev to clap back, directing Trump to call to mind the apocalyptic television series “The Walking Dead” and referred to the Soviet Union’s system for launching a last resort, automatic nuclear strike. 

“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,” Medvedev wrote on Telegram. Remember “how dangerous the fabled Dead Hand can be.”

Trump had also said in his response, “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.”

This had come hours after he imposed a 25% tariff plus “penalty” on India, set to take effect August 1. “Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way,” Trump added.

Dmitry Medvedev previously served as Putin’s prime minister and later held the presidency from 2008 to 2012, acting as a placeholder while Putin was constitutionally prevented from serving a third consecutive term.

The fact that under Medvedev Russia abstained from vetoing a United Nations resolution allowing NATO to invade and bomb Libya was widely seen as weak among many Russian officials, and likely Putin himself.

Medvedev is now a staunch advocate of Putin’s ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine and has become a public and social media attack dog on the West of sorts, often acting as bad cop to Putin’s more conciliatory good cop messaging.