President Donald Trump opened the 2026 State of the Union address by declaring that ‘our nation is back – bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.’ He contrasted this moment with the previous year, when he described inheriting a ‘nation in crisis’ with a ‘wide open border’ and ‘wars and chaos all over the world.’

Border Security and Fentanyl Reduction

Trump focused heavily on national security, beginning with border security. He asserted that ‘today our border is secure, our spirit is restored… our enemies are scared.’ He claimed that in the past nine months, ‘zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States,’ and that ‘we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history-by far.’

On the issue of fentanyl, Trump reported a ‘record 56 percent reduction in the flow of deadly fentanyl across the border in one year.’ He designated drug cartels as ‘foreign terrorist organizations’ and declared illicit fentanyl a ‘weapon of mass destruction.’ Trump also noted that his administration had ‘stopped record amounts of drugs coming into our country and virtually stopped it completely coming in by water or sea,’ which he said ‘very seriously damaged their fishing industry.’

Venezuela and Ending Conflicts

Discussing Venezuela, Trump stated that the U.S. had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from the country, which he now calls ‘our new friend and partner.’ He praised U.S. forces for capturing former President Nicolás Maduro and declared the operation ‘one of the most complex spectacular feats of military competence and power in world history.’

Trump claimed to have ‘ended eight wars’ in his first ten months in office, citing conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, Pakistan and India, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda, and Israel and Palestine. He also said the war in Gaza ‘proceeds at a very low level’ and that his intervention ‘would have been a nuclear war’ between India and Pakistan.

Russia, Ukraine, and Iran

On Russia and Ukraine, Trump stated that the war was the ninth he was working to end, and he claimed it ‘would have never happened if I were president.’ He also spoke about Iran, highlighting the success of Operation Midnight Hammer, which he said ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Trump mentioned recent protests in Iran and the regime’s crackdown, stating that ‘at least, it looks like…32,000 protesters in their own country’ were killed.

Trump emphasized that the U.S. played a role in limiting the bloodshed, claiming, ‘We stopped [the regime] from hanging a lot of [protesters] with the threat of serious violence.’ He added that the U.S. is in negotiations with Iran but would not allow the country to develop nuclear weapons, calling Iran the ‘world’s number one sponsor of terror.’

NATO and Tariffs

On NATO, Trump credited his administration with increasing military defense spending among members from 2% to 5% of their GDP. He noted, ‘[W]e were paying for almost all of them,’ but now ‘they’re paying five as opposed to not paying for it.’

Regarding tariffs, Trump stated they were a ‘primary reason for the country’s stunning economic turnaround,’ citing the Dow Jones breaking 50,000 four years ahead of schedule and the S&P hitting 7000. He also criticized Democrats for cutting funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which he said ‘closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers.’

Trump framed the moment as an opportunity for Americans to observe ‘what their representatives believe,’ and invited every legislator to support the ‘fundamental principle’ that ‘the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.’

While the speech included references to Nobel Prize winners in the context of diplomatic efforts and international recognition, Trump did not directly link his policies to the achievements of such individuals.