Washington, Feb 25 (.) Delivering his first State of the union address of his second term, President Donald Trump pushed forth a message of economic strength and global leadership in his speech, blending nationalist campaign rhetoric with presidential chest thumping, in a bid to rally voters ahead of the November mid-term elections in the country.

In a speech lasting nearly two hours – one of the longest of its kind in recent decades – Trump largely focused on domestic themes, framing his first year back in office as a dramatic turnaround from what he described as decline under his predecessor.

“I inherited a nation in crisis,” he said on Tuesday night, citing what he called a stagnant economy, high inflation, rising crime and “war and chaos all over the world”. But, he added, “after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages.”

Portraying the US as a kind of resurgent power, coming back from a time of weakness, Trump touting a “golden age” of the US, told lawmakers that the southern border was now secure, inflation had fallen sharply and the economy was “roaring like never before”.

He further claimed that incomes were rising and that the US was once again feared by its adversaries, while commanding respect on the global stage.

“Our enemies are scared. Our military and police are stacked. And America is respected again, perhaps like never before,” he said.

Post the one-hour mark of his speech, Trump turned his attention to issues beyond American borders, and made sweeping claims about his role as a global peacemaker.

In a rapid-fire list, he once again reiterated his claims having stopped or otherwise de-escalated eight major international conflicts, including between Thailand – Cambodia, the Israel-Hamas war, and the India-Pakistan conflict.

Further referencing the May 2025 standoff, he said that the war between New Delhi and Islamabad could have turned nuclear and that he saved the Pakistani PM’s life by allegedly preventing escalation.

“Pakistan and India would have been [in] a nuclear war – 35 million people… the prime minister of Pakistan, would have died if it were not for my involvement,” Trump claimed.

He also lauded the US military’s actions in Venezuela, terming them “one of the most complex, spectacular feats of military competence and power in world history”.

The operation, which led to the abduction and subsequent removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was labelled by Trump as “an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States”, as well as the start of “a bright new beginning for the people of Venezuela”.

Despite heavy chest thumping and striking an assertive tone about a ‘rising America’, Trump was noted to have been relatively mute on China, carefully avoiding making any direct references to Beijing.

His only one reference to China was regarding the extraction of Maduro by the US forces, where he, while lauding Washington’s actions in Caracas, said that Venezuela had Chinese defence systems deployed on ground, which ended up in total failure.

“This was a major military installation, protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technologies. How did that go for them?” he quipped, while observers in Washington and Beijing noted, that his choice of restraint was a deliberate exercise, as his speech came just ahead of a planned visit to China.

Staunchly defending his tariff policy, the POTUS argued that other countries had long been “ripping us off” Washington, while lamenting last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down his executive tariff powers, calling it “very unfortunate”.

“I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars, to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis,” he said. “Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Striking a hardline and aggressive tone against Iran, Trump blasted the country’s leadership, saying that the Islamic Republic “spread nothing but terrorism, death and hate” and alleged that it was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”.

While he did not outline any specific new measures, his remarks came amid heightened tensions and repeated threats of military action against Tehran.

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