Joe Biden remains isolated in Delaware as Putin flexes his nukes

 Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine continuing to escalate, President Joe Biden remains at his private estate in Delaware.

Fox News reported that Biden remains at his private residence in Delaware and that the media is having difficulty making contact with the administration.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military command to put Russia's nuclear deterrence forces on high alert.

Putin blamed "aggressive" rhetoric from NATO members and thoroughgoing economic sanctions against Russia for why he chose to increase Russia's preparedness to use nuclear weapons.

Putin said, "Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country."

"Senior officials of the leading NATO countries also allow aggressive statements against our country," the Russian president continued, "Therefore I order the minister of defense and the chief of the general staff [of the Russian armed forces] to transfer the deterrence forces of the Russian army to a special mode of combat duty."

Last week, Putin warned that countries who interfere with the Russian invasion of Ukraine will face "consequences you have never seen."

Rebekah Koffler, a former DIA intelligence officer, said, "[Putin] is right now threatening a nuclear escalation. This is a veiled threat – or maybe such a veiled threat – he just met with his chief of general staff and minister of defense. He is escalating the conflict into the nuclear domain in order to de-escalate – that is, topple Kyiv's regime quickly."

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said, "It is not entirely clear if Mr. Putin has designs beyond the Ukraine, and it's because that's not perfectly clear that we continue to look for ways to bolster our NATO capabilities and to reassure our allies. I mean, one of the reasons we're doing this is because we want to make it clear to him that we will defend every inch of NATO territory."

The Republican congressman from Illinois, Adam Kinzinger, referred to Putin's nuclear escalation as a "bluff" and suggested that Putin was merely posturing to make people fear Russia's capabilities.

He said, "This breathlessness over nukes is mind blowing. We used to call his bluff. This is the Soviet Cold War play to make the public fear Russia."

On Saturday, Western leaders issued a joint statement committing them to ending Russia's ability to access and use the SWIFT financial telecommunication network. By doing so, the West isolated Russia's economy, making it virtually impossible for them to conduct trade with their international partners.

Removing Russia from SWIFT will hurt the country's ability to export fossil fuels and natural gas.