President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that U.S. nuclear submarines are already “in the region” as tensions with Russia rise.
Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Trump addressed his recent order to position submarines in response to aggressive comments from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
“I’ve already put out a statement and the answer is they are in the region, yeah, where they have to be,” Trump said at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
Trump announced the deployment Friday on TRUTH Social, citing Medvedev’s “highly provocative statements” as the reason. He also noted that special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Russia later in the week.
Russian state media reported that Witkoff is set to arrive Wednesday. Trump said his envoy’s visit will precede a Friday deadline for a ceasefire deal. If no agreement is reached, more sanctions and tariffs will follow.
Asked if sanctions could be avoided, Trump was blunt: “Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed.” He criticized the war’s toll on both sides, saying, “A tremendous number of Russian soldiers have been killed. And likewise Ukraine, a lower number, but still thousands and thousands of people.”
He also said the war is “ridiculous” and avoidable. “We stopped a lot of countries from war—India and Pakistan—we stopped a lot of countries. And we’re going to get that one stopped too.”
“This should be the easiest to stop, and it’s not,” Trump concluded.