Trump’s State of the Union touts economic turnaround as approval slumps 

United States President Donald Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in history on Tuesday night, covering an array of his policies on the US economy, crime, trade, immigration and foreign policy, all of which he said contributed to a “turnaround for the ages”.

The first such address of his second term lasted 1-hour, 48-minutes, which surpassed the record of 1 hour and 28 minutes set by former President Bill Clinton in 2000.

“Our nation is back: bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” Trump said, at the start of his speech.

He ended the address with a similar sentiment: “Our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder and more glorious than ever before.”

It remains to be seen how the sentiment will resonate with voters, as the president has seen his approval rating slump in recent weeks to the lowest since his second term began.

It also remained unclear if Trump’s claims of success would give the Republican Party the bump it needs to hold on to control of the US House of Representatives and Senate in the midterm elections in November, which will greatly determine his ability to enact his agenda in the years ahead.

Here were some key moments from the speech:

Trump says the economy is ‘roaring’

One of the main goals of Trump’s speech was to sell his stewardship of the US economy, which has been a mixed bag over the last 13 months.

Trump pointed to Wall Street’s continued strength and strong job numbers, but glossed over the economy’s slower-than-expected growth in 2025.

While inflation has eased somewhat, it has not quite “plummeted” as Trump said. For example, January data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed food prices were still 2.9 percent higher than the same period last year.

The president then turned to the issue of “affordability”, which has proven a challenging subject for him. Polls have shown a decline in confidence in Trump’s leadership on the economy, with many US citizens still experiencing high living costs.

Trump largely blamed the affordability issues on Democrats, including former President Joe Biden, whose term ended over a year ago when Trump took office.

“Their policies created the high prices; our policies are rapidly ending them,” Trump said.

Trump also hailed his TrumpRx website, which offers people without insurance potentially cheaper medications online.

He said he had struck a deal with tech companies to keep utility bills low, despite the demands of AI data centres. He also pointed to an executive order limiting Wall Street investment firms from buying single-family homes in bulk.

President remains defiant after tariff ruling

Trump has remained defiant after the US Supreme Court ruled last week that large portions of the reciprocal tariffs he announced last year were illegal.

The ruling was the most substantial setback from the Supreme Court for any of Trump’s policies.

“Just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down; very unfortunate ruling,” said Trump.

He greeted the four Supreme Court justices in attendance, including his appointees Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, as he entered the chamber.

On Tuesday, a new set of global tariffs of 10 percent went into effect under what Trump described as “fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes”. Trump has said he wants to increase these to 15 percent.

He added that “congressional action will not be necessary” to keep the tariffs in place.

Democrats protest Trump’s immigration policies

Trump focused heavily on his hardline immigration policies, particularly when it came to his closure of the US border.

He continually connected migration to higher crime rates, although studies have shown migrants commit crimes at a lower rate than US citizens.

Trump again alleged rampant fraud in the Somali-American community, referring to “the Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota”.

Trump also asked those in attendance to stand if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens”.

That prompted heckles from Democrats Ilhan Omar, who is Somali American, and Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American.

“You have killed Americans,” Omar, who represents a district in the state of Minnesota where two US citizens were killed in January by immigration agents, yelled.

Earlier in the night, Representative Al Green was escorted from the chamber after he held up a protest sign referring to a racist video posted on Trump’s Truth Social account depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, as apes.

Beyond the policy arguments on the economy and immigration, Trump leaned into a highly partisan appeal for Republican control of Congress.

He framed the upcoming midterms as a rescue mission; he labelled Democratic lawmakers “crazy” and accused them of “destroying this country,” claiming his administration had intervened “just in the nick of time”.

Throughout the address, he repeatedly cast his political opponents as anti-American actors working against the nation’s best interests.

Trump says Iran won’t commit to no nuclear weapons

The president addressed tensions with Iran amid the largest US military build-up in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He again claimed that US strikes last year had “obliterated Iran’s nuclear weapons programme”, just days after US envoy Steve Witkoff said Iran could be a “week away” from developing nuclear weapons.

Trump has upped threats against Iran amid the latest crackdown on protesters in the country, although he said he preferred to find a diplomatic solution.

“We haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’’’ Trump said.

Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X hours before Trump’s speech, said that “Iran will under no circumstances develop a nuclear weapon”. Iranian officials have repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons.

Trump also claimed that Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”.

Made-for-television moments

Trump built his career in reality television, and his eye for camera-ready moments was clear during the speech.

At one point, Trump referenced the US abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, which he hailed as a “colossal victory for the security of the United States”. He added the US had “received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil”.

The US president then introduced Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Enrique Marquez, who had been released from prison by the government of Delcy Rodriguez shortly after Maduro’s abduction.

“Alejandra,” Trump said to a woman he identified as Marquez’s niece, “I’m pleased to inform you that not only has your uncle been released, but he is here tonight. We brought him over to celebrate his freedom with you in person.”

Trump also awarded Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, who was wounded in the Maduro abduction raid, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Earlier in the night, Trump awarded the goaltender of the US men’s hockey team, Connor Hellebuyck, with the country’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Trump had invited the team, which won gold over Canada at the Olympics, to the speech as his guests.

Democrats’ response

Dozens of Democrats boycotted Trump’s speech and attended counterprogramming instead.

The party’s official rebuttal was delivered by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger.

Spanberger said US businesses suffer under Trump’s tariffs, communities live under his mass deportation drive and residents remain dogged by affordability issues.

“Americans, you at home, know you can demand more, and that we are working to lower costs,” she said. “We are working to keep our community and our country safe, and we are working for you.”