Donald Trump lashed out at Tehran’s “sinister” nuclear ambitions in his State of the Union address as he laid out Washington’s justification for possible US military action against the Islamic republic.
The US president accused Iran of seeking to rebuild its nuclear weapons programme as he spoke before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
Amid a massive build-up of US naval and air power in the Middle East, Trump said the US was negotiating with Iran but Tehran was not relinquishing its nuclear ambitions and continued to threaten America.
“They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” Trump said. He did not offer any new evidence to support his claims against Iran.
His remarks came during the second half of a nearly two-hour campaign-style speech to Congress — the longest in modern history — during which he mounted a staunch defence of his economic and immigration policies as he sought to re-energise his rightwing base ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The president said Iran had failed to heed a warning to make “no future attempts” to rebuild their nuclear weapons programmes after last June’s US strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.
“We wiped it out and they want to start all over again,” Trump said. He added Iran was “at this moment, again, pursuing their sinister ambitions”.
Trump’s comments on Iran came just two days before critical talks in Geneva on Thursday between US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and senior Iranian officials, which could determine whether the White House launches a new attack on the Islamic republic.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, secretary of state Marco Rubio briefed congressional leaders and top lawmakers on the Iran crisis. Democrats emerged from the meeting urging the White House to better explain the rationale for a possible US intervention.
Trump also used Tuesday’s address to reinforce his economic message as lawmakers gear up for the midterm election campaign.
The president claimed inflation was “plummeting” and incomes were “rising fast”, despite official figures showing price pressures remained above the Federal Reserve’s 2 per cent target.
“The roaring economy is roaring like never before,” Trump said.
He also attacked critics, including Democrats, who have condemned the administration for failing to address the high cost of living while claiming to be champions of “affordability”.
“They knew their statements were a dirty rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them,” he said.
But Democrats denounced the president’s message on inflation as out of touch.
Abigail Spanberger, the Virginia Democratic governor who delivered a rebuttal speech, said: “Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night — problems that dictate where you live, whether you can afford to start a business or whether you have to skip a prescription in order to buy groceries.”
Facing four Supreme Court justices in the audience, Trump hit back against the court’s ruling late last week that his use of emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs on US trading partners was illegal.
At midnight on Tuesday, ahead of the speech, Trump implemented a 10 per cent global levy based on a different statute, doubling down on his signature economic policy even though polls show American voters are sceptical of tariffs.
“Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars,” he said. “I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.”
Trump at times clashed with Democrats in the audience as he depicted the country as ravaged by high crime and illegal immigration, which he argues justifies the sweeping federal crackdowns in many American cities.
Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib repeatedly shouted over the president, at one point saying he had killed Americans.
“These people are crazy. I’m telling you they’re crazy . . . Democrats are destroying our country, but we’ve stopped it just in the nick of time,” Trump said, adding Democrats should be “ashamed” of themselves.
At one point, he called on lawmakers to pass legislation that would ban members of Congress and their families from trading stocks.
He took a dig at former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, whose husband has come under scrutiny for his stock trades.
“Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she’s here?” Trump said, following a standing ovation from some lawmakers for his remarks.
“Doubt it,” the president added, though Pelosi had stood up.
The speech was attended by the US men’s hockey team that won the Olympic gold medal on Sunday. Also in the audience was Erika Kirk — widow of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist killed last September — who was visibly emotional sitting alongside the president’s family.
Trump called on the US to reject “political violence”. In a nod to the Christian conservative Republican base, he credited Charlie Kirk with leading a “tremendous renewal” of faith among young people.
“We love religion, and . . . it’s coming back,” he said.
Reporting by James Politi, Lauren Fedor, Steff Chávez, Abigail Hauslohner, Stefania Palma, Claire Jones, Amy Mackinnon and Myles McCormick.