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TRANSCRIPT:
It's one of the biggest nights on the U-S political calendar.
And for President Donald Trump, this State of the Union Address comes at a critical moment.
Months out from the mid-term elections, the President's approval ratings are low - the latest opinion polls revealing 60 per cent of Americans disapprove of Trump, and a significant majority are dissatisfied with his handling of the economy, tariffs, inflation and relations with other countries.
But it was all strident confidence during the President's record-breaking two-hour long speech.
"Our nation is back, bigger, richer stronger and better than ever before... Tonight, 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."
His audience included both Houses of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, his cabinet, Joint Chiefs of Staff, his family, as well as survivors of sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Soaking up the applause, President Trump described his second term in office as the "golden era" in the U-S's 250 years of independence, touting his immigration crackdown as a major success.
"We now have the strongest and most secure border in American history, by far. In the past 9 months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States."
Minutes into the address, Texas Democratic Representative Al Green was escorted out of the chamber, holding a sign in protest against Trump sharing a racist, AI generated video of Barack and Michelle Obama earlier this month.
But the President appeared largely undeterred, using the stage to list his economic achievements and downplay affordability concerns.
Government data shows inflation ticked up last year, while the economy lost factory jobs and overall job creation was anaemic.
And while prices of some items - like eggs - have dropped since Trump's return to the White House, food and other prices more broadly have increased.
Trump has blamed the Democrats for bad inflation figures.
"They knew that their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them. We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward."
He celebrated Olympians -- notably the men's gold winning hockey team - and honoured Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist who was assassinated while speaking at a University campus debate last year.
There was also a swipe at the Supreme Court justices seated in the front row days after their recent ruling that tariffs he applied last year were illegal.
Donald Trump called their judgement "unfortunate."
"Despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful countries saving, it's saving our country the kind of money we're taking in peace, protecting many of the wars I settled was because of the threat of tariffs. I wouldn't have been able to settle them with their will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes."
Republicans have billed the speech as a unifying address - but the President repeatedly attacked the Democrats in the chamber, accusing them of rigging elections.
He has also returned to the subject of immigration.
The president dedicated much of his time on the campaign trail in 2024 to describing what he argued were dangers posed by immigrants, a message that resonated with voters.
It was once a key political strength, but has now morphed into a weakness in recent months amid a backlash against the high-profile killings of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents and a mass deportation drive that has proven more popular in theory than in practice.
Accordingly, stripped from his speech was any mention of his own administration's enforcement tactics - instead he singled out the Somali community in his remarks.
"The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery and corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception."
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar shouted back, calling the President a liar, while other Democrats had boycotted the address entirely.
On foreign policy, Donald Trump continued to frame himself as the peacemaker, pointing to the return of Israeli hostages from Gaza.
But he failed to provide clarity on his plans for Iran.
"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, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon, we can't let that happen."
