Trump's 'dead economy' jibe triggers Russian nuke warning: 'Dead Hand' dangerous

From "dead economy" to "Dead Hand," the public war of words between US President Donald Trump and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev—an ally of Vladimir Putin—has descended into Cold War-era nuclear brinkmanship.

What began with Trump saying that both India and Russia could "take their dead economies down together" soon spiralled out of control.

Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, invoked the "Dead Hand"—a Cold War-era system designed by Moscow that would automatically launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if the Soviet Union—present-day Russia—were attacked, even if its leadership were incapacitated.

"As for the talk about the 'dead economies' of India and Russia, and 'entering dangerous territory' - maybe he should recall his favourite movies about 'the walking dead,' and also remember how dangerous the so-called 'Dead Hand,' which doesn't even exist, could be," Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.

The showdown between Trump and Medvedev today was triggered by the US President imposing 25 percent tariffs on India over its purchase of energy from Russia.

In the same Truth Social post where Trump announced the levies on Indian imports to the US, he also took a potshot at both Medvedev and Russia, saying, "Tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he's still President, to watch his words. He's entering very dangerous territory!"

This was in response to Medvedev warning Trump after US brought down the ceasefire deadline from 50 days to just 10-12 days or risk facing "secondary tariffs."

Trump's playing the ultimatum game with Russia 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!" Putin's close aide wrote on X, using Trump’s nickname for his predecessor Joe Biden.

The former Russian President was responding to Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had warned Brics countries—of which both India and Russia are members.

"Trump is going to impose tariffs on people that buy Russian oil—China, India, and Brazil... Here's what I would tell China, India, and Brazil: If you keep buying cheap Russian oil to allow this war to continue, we're going to tear the hell out of you, and we're going to crush your economy," Graham said in an interview with Fox News.

Trump had already expressed his intention to impose additional levies on BRICS nations for what he described as an alliance challenging the U.S. dollar.

Amidst all this, Putin has remained publicly silent while his aide escalates the rhetoric. The Kremlin has said it is monitoring the situation closely as US stationed its nuclear weapons in the UK, in a first since 2008.

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