Follow us on social

Dimitri Medvedev  and Donald Trump

Trump vs. Medvedev: When talking tough is plain turkey

Exchanging nuclear threats like this is pure theater and we should not be applauding

Analysis | QiOSK

President Donald Trump ordered U.S. nuclear submarines to be positioned in “the appropriate regions” after former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev reminded Trump of Moscow’s nuclear capabilities ad told him to watch the apocalyptic series “The Walking Dead.”

The war of words started over Trump’s threats to impose sanctions if Russia doesn’t comply with ceasefire in 10 days.

Both Medvedev's remarks and Trump's response are pure theatrics. Having refrained from the use of nuclear weapons over the past three years, Russia is obviously not going to launch them in response to a new round of U.S. sanctions — especially since it has successfully overcome several previous rounds.

Trump is right to ask of his new sanctions, "I don't know if sanctions bother him (Putin)." This almost amounts to admitting that the new sanctions are pointless in terms of putting pressure on Russia and are really intended to defend Trump against domestic criticism.

Trump's announced — or alleged — "deployment" of U.S. nuclear submarines is also completely empty. The U.S. has nuclear submarines capable of striking Russia on permanent deployment.

Medvedev and Trump are both trying to look tough for domestic audiences. The rest of us are not however required to applaud this theatre. At the same time, Trump is right to say that words matter, and there should be no place for empty theatrics in a matter as serious as the threat of nuclear war. President Putin should silence his increasingly erratic and provocative subordinate. Trump should take heed of his own words and moderate his own often overblown language and threats.

Putin for his part is correct to say that "in order to approach the issue (and end to the Ukraine war) peacefully, we need to have detailed conversations, and not in public." This would require the Trump administration to prepare a detailed plan for peace and develop a confidential "back channel" through which to present it to the Russian government.

However, if such confidential discussions were to have any chance of success, it would also be necessary for the Russian government greatly to moderate its present conditions for a peace settlement.


Top photo credit: Dimitri Medvedev (Anton Veselov/Shutterstock) and Donald Trump (Lev Radin/Shutterstock)
Analysis | QiOSK
Putin Trump
Top photo credit: Vladimir Putin (Office of the Executive of the Federation of Russia) and Donald Trump (Michael C. Dougherty, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs)

Russia likely laughing off Trump's 'open door' to Tomahawks

Europe

When asked on Sunday if reports that President Donald Trump was considering providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles were true, Vice President J.D. Vance left the door open.

The President was selling, not gifting, weapons to Ukraine, Vance clarified, and would make the final decision about what capabilities Ukraine might receive.

keep readingShow less
Mikheil Kavelashvili
Top image credit: Georgia's new president Mikheil Kavelashvili speaks during his swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze/Pool

'The West demanded that we get involved in war with Russia'

Europe

The European Union expects Georgia to change radically to accommodate the EU. The Georgian government expects the EU to change radically to accommodate Georgia.

The latter may seem an absurd proposition given the relative size of the two sides (and it will certainly be regarded as such by the EU Commission) but as the Georgian President, Mikheil Kavelashvili reminded me in New York last week, Christian Georgia has been around for a lot longer than the EU — almost 1,700 years longer — and confidently expects to be around for a long time after it.

keep readingShow less
Israel AI
Top image credit: DC Studio via shutterstock.com

Israel wants to train ChatGPT to be more pro-Israel

Middle East

The government of Israel has hired a new conservative-aligned firm, Clock Tower X LLC, to create media for Gen Z audiences in a contract worth $6 million. At least 80 percent of content Clock Tower produces will be “tailored to Gen Z audiences across platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, and other relevant digital and broadcast outlets” with a minimum goal of 50 million impressions per month.

Clock Tower will even deploy “websites and content to deliver GPT framing results on GPT conversations.” In other words, Clock Tower will create new websites to influence how AI GPT models such as ChatGPT, which are trained on vast amounts of data from every corner of the internet, frame topics and respond to them — all on behalf of Israel.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.