President Trump also smashed his own one hour and 40 minute record for a presidential speech to Congress, which he set last March in an annual address that was not technically a State of the Union.
Mr Trump touched on a number of key points during his speech, including the Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down his global tariffs.
He criticised the decision in front of several justices who had supported it, calling it “very unfortunate.”
Among those in attendance at the joint session of Congress were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett – both conservatives – who alongside liberal Justice Elena Kagan had joined a 6-3 majority to rule against many of Mr Trump’s tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address during a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on February 24, 2026, in Washington, DC. Trump delivered his address days after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s tariff strategy
US President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address
But the president added that US trading partners “want to keep the deal that they already made” with his administration, “knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them.”
‘Golden age of America’
At the start of his address, Mr Trump declared that “this is the Golden Age of America”, seeking to project an aura of success at a fraught moment for his presidency and his Republican Party.
“Our nation is back – bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before,” he said after taking the stage to cheers of “USA, USA” from his party’s members of Congress.
President Trump also said that the United States had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela since Washington’s ouster of the South American country’s leader Nicolas Maduro.
“American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day,” he added.
President Trump ordered the seizure of socialist leader Mr Maduro in January on allegations of drug trafficking and other crimes, and since then has eased oil sanctions on the country in a bid to boost production.
Board of Peace
Mr Trump, who has openly coveted the Nobel Peace Prize and set up his own ‘Board of Peace,’ said that he would prefer to solve Iran’s nuclear programme issue with diplomacy.
“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,” Mr Trump said.
He also touted his record of brokering peace deals.
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