President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, suggesting the Russian leader was "playing with fire" after refusing to engage in peace negotiations with Ukraine.

"What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He's playing with fire!" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Tuesday morning.

The president's post followed another on Sunday, in which Trump said he believed Putin had gone "absolutely crazy" after the Kremlin launched its largest drone and missile strike against Ukraine in its now more than three-year-long war.

Following Trump's initial criticism of Putin, pro-Kremlin accounts on the Russian social media platform VKontakte responded that Trump had dementia, while some called him a "clown."

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chief of Russia's security council and a close Putin ally, also reacted directly to Trump's recent posts, writing on X, "Regarding Trump's words about Putin 'playing with fire' and 'really bad things' happening to Russia. I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this."

This is hardly the first time Trump has engaged in a social media tirade. Even before entering politics, Trump had used social media as a means of direct communication with the masses to call out his foes. That has only been amplified with his return to the White House.

"Trump has made it his communicative mission to sow discord on social media platforms, especially on the one he controls most, Truth Social," explained Dr. Julianna Kirschner, lecturer in the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.

She said such off-the-cuff commentary from anyone in a political position shouldn't be acceptable, and that is especially true of those at the highest level of government.

"It makes dissent between nations public in a haphazard way," Kirschner warned. "It is hard to exercise diplomacy when all of the dirty laundry—factual or otherwise—is being aired out. Many users who tend to see this kind of messaging are already primed to agree with the president, so his messaging, regardless of its problematic relationship with facts, tends to be amplified for others to see. The fact that he is the President also increases visibility on its own, which makes communicative blunders even more problematic."

Trump's venting about Russia on social media may resonate with his supporters. Still, it is unlikely to stop Putin's aerial campaign against Ukraine, and it won't help bring Russia to the bargaining table.

"Donald Trump's latest flare-up on Truth Social—calling Vladimir Putin 'crazy'—isn't going to send Russian troops into retreat or force a change in Kremlin calculus," said geopolitical analyst Irina Tsukerman, president of threat assessment firm Scarab Rising. "But what it does do, with alarming efficiency, is torch diplomatic nuance, erode presidential prestige, and blur the already thin line between posturing and provocation in a hyperconnected world where social media acts faster than missiles and sometimes hits harder."

Tsukerman added that the Kremlin's predictable indignation isn't the story here. Putin has already survived worse insults from Western leaders and opposition figures, both dead and in exile.

"What matters more is the erosion of statesmanship—especially from a former and potentially future U.S. president—who seems to treat geopolitics like a Real Housewives reunion: loud, reactive, and one tweet away from a meltdown," Tsukerman continued.

As a real estate developer turned reality TV star turned politician, Trump may too often focus on the "Art of the Deal," while being completely clueless regarding the "Art of War," and he is certainly no student of history. Trump likely doesn't know that the public release of the "Ems Dispatch," a telegram discussing the vacant Spanish throne, provoked a war between Prussia and France in 1870.

Likewise, diplomatic relations between East and West were seriously hampered after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev addressed Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow in November 1956 and said, "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

Envoys from a dozen NATO nations, along with Israel, left the room, seeing it as a threat.

Yet, historians have suggested it was a misinterpretation of what the Russian leader meant. Rather than a threat, it was meant as a quip that Marxism would endure longer than capitalism, as in "History is on our side. We shall be present at your funeral."

Trump's comments on social media could have a similar effect.

"Trump could potentially start a war with Russia, even if he does not want to engage in one. Rhetoric of this nature can render such disastrous results regardless of intent," said Kirschner.

"There is certainly the possibility that attacks like those Trump has been advancing could lead to conflict between nations, even if it is not directly between the United States and Russia. The ripple effect of this kind of posturing suggests that foreign actors may follow suit and/or our allies could be threatened even by the slightest negative implication by the president," Kirschner continued.

Trump is far from the only politician to use social media to push an agenda, but it is far from an effective tool in diplomacy. Off-the-cuff comments rarely help matters, but it can certainly make things worse.

That is where the power of social media should not be underestimated, especially when divisive messaging like this is at the center.

"Research has long shown that social media platforms tend to have a polarizing effect in terms of user response to political issues," noted Kirschner. "Users either like the content or they do not. In either case, the messaging is amplified through polarized user engagement for even more users to see, regardless of their diplomatic or problematic nature."

There may be a belief within the White House that Trump's strong words will somehow resonate with Russia. It has already been established that Denmark isn't going to sell or otherwise transfer ownership of Greenland to the U.S., and Canada has no interest in becoming the 51st state, despite the president's use of social media to make his arguments.

Likewise, Trump's jab won't change Moscow's war aims or disrupt Russia's foreign policy machine.

"Putin doesn't recalibrate strategy based on Western insults; if anything, he feeds off them," added Tsukerman. "To the Kremlin, Trump's comment fits neatly into the narrative of Western decadence and instability – proof that even America's so-called 'tough guys' can't keep a leash on their emotions. Moscow may be isolated and overstretched, but its disinformation game remains razor-sharp, and Trump's outburst is low-hanging fruit for a propaganda blitz."

Even worse, as Russia shrugs off this latest insult, Trump may bleed credibility.

"His image – already battered by legal woes, internal party fractures, and a bruising global landscape – now takes another hit from the spectacle of schoolyard taunts masquerading as foreign policy," said Tsukerman. "Leadership isn't about liking your enemies; it's about managing them. And calling a nuclear-armed adversary 'crazy' with the world watching is less Winston Churchill, its more Charlie Sheen."

In the end, Trump calling Putin "crazy" may not start World War III, but it won't do anything to end the current conflict in Ukraine.

"It signals something corrosive: the degradation of high-level diplomacy into viral content," warned Tsukerman. "The loss of strategic messaging in favor of dopamine hits. And the slow but steady collapse of the guardrails that once separated political theater from geopolitical warfare."