In his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump presented an especially optimistic assessment of the United States under his leadership, combining policy declarations on both foreign and domestic fronts with a sharp attack on his Democratic rivals.
"Our country is back, greater, better, richer and stronger than ever before," Trump said, adding, "This is the golden age of America."
The president's speech lasted more than 100 minutes, setting a new record for the longest State of the Union address delivered from the congressional podium, surpassing Bill Clinton's 2000 address, which ran approximately 88 minutes.
"Never allow them to have a nuclear weapon"
Iran was a central focus of the address. Trump recalled that in June the US carried out a direct strike on Iranian territory as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, which he said "destroyed Iran's nuclear weapons program." For decades, he said, US policy had been to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but despite the blow it sustained, Tehran is now trying to renew its efforts to pursue a bomb.
He warned that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not only seeking to rebuild its nuclear program but is continuing to develop advanced ballistic capabilities. The regime in Tehran, he said, "has already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they are working on building missiles that will soon reach the United States of America."
Trump stressed that after Operation Midnight Hammer, the Iranians were warned not to attempt to restore their capabilities, yet "they continue and are renewing everything all over again." He framed the combination of ballistic missiles and a nuclear drive as a direct strategic threat to the American homeland and made clear that the US would not hesitate to act if necessary.
"We are negotiating with them. They want to make a deal," he said, adding that he had yet to hear the words he expects: "We will never have a nuclear weapon." Trump emphasized: "My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy, but one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror to have a nuclear weapon."
"We brought everyone back"
Trump claimed that in the first 10 months of his second term he had ended eight wars, including "the war in Gaza, which is now at very low intensity, but we are almost there." Turning at length to Gaza, he portrayed himself as having brought about the end of the war and the return of all the hostages. "Under the ceasefire that I managed, every hostage, living or fallen, was returned home. Nobody thought it was possible."
He said recovering the bodies of those killed had been especially complex. He described how Hamas, a terrorist organization, and Israel "cooperated" while searching for remains in the field. "They dug and dug. Sometimes they passed over 100 bodies to find one."
According to Trump, 27 of the 28 bodies were initially located, and the final one was found thanks to his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. He was referring to the abducted soldier whose body was recovered by Israel Defense Forces troops, the late Ran Gvili.
"The mother said to me, 'We have our son back,' as happy as you can be in a situation like that," Trump recounted. He thanked Witkoff and Kushner from the congressional podium for their efforts.
As is customary in a State of the Union address, a number of special guests were invited to sit in the gallery. Trump highlighted several of them during the speech, presenting their stories as examples of what he described as American resilience, military strength and renewed national pride.
