Trump: we are experiencing 'an unprecedented renaissance' and enemies 'are afraid'

But Trump equally expressed optimism about his own future as the country's leader, tinged with harshness and assaults on critics and sceptics. A mixture of rosy predictions and angry attacks, the New York Times headlined. Trump called the Democratic opposition members 'crazy'. While the message was first and foremost in tone and rhetoric, he also announced a collection of initiatives, some new and some already known, to revive his image. A new war on fraud will be led by Vice-President JD Vance. In ill-concealed racial tones, to underline the importance of the mission, he denounced 'the Somali pirates who robbed Minnesota'. A serious scam involving federal funds in the state has seen the arrest of several dozen people, all of them citizens or lawful residents, including immigrants from Somalia, but with a local community of 80,000 people, most of them legal.

Speaking about the fight against migrants, he also said that 'today the borders are secure, the most secure in history', after 'millions of illegals had entered in past years'. Although he pointed out that 'we welcome those who come legally and love our country'. Again: 'Crime has dropped to a minimum', he said, linking it to illegal immigrants, a fact belied by statistics. In a theatrical and provocative gesture, he asked congressmen to stand if they agreed with his statement that it is their duty to defend American citizens, not illegal immigrants. All Republicans stood, all Democrats sat, to which he shouted, 'Shame on you'.

On elections and democracy, he revived his conspiracy theses about voting frauds against him, which have been amply refuted by investigations and experts. He said the scams are 'rampant' and called for the adoption of the Save Amerivca Act, which restricts the right to vote. Among other things, it hardens the requirements and proof of citizenship and identity needed to register and vote. States, under the Constitution responsible for administering the vote, would also be required to share voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security. He accused those who do not want the law of wanting to 'cheat' again.

On tariffs he again denounced that many countries 'have been robbing us for years' in trade. And stated that even these countries are now happy with the new agreements reached. The rejection of reciprocal tariffs by the Supreme Court was called "unfortunate and disappointing", but he added that companies and everyone actually want to preserve agreements reached in the meantime and that more stable tariffs will remain, without needing to be approved by Congress. He said, contrary to the evidence, they are paid by foreign countries and will one day 'replace income taxes'. Thousands of billions 'will continue to flow' into the US.

Talking about the economy more generally, he said that Wall Street was grinding out records, and that he had 'secured the arrival of 18 trillion dollars' of investment from all over the world. Because 'we are the hottest country in the world'. He criticised the Democratic opposition for its slogan about affordability, about affordability. And he claimed that under him inflation is actually tamed, with prices falling on eggs, poultry, beef,. and 'dumb costs going down'. He celebrated the tax cuts in the Big Beautiful bill, the big budget and economic bill passed last year, condemning the opposition who voted against it and who "want to hurt Americans", and arguing that it will still have positive effects on incomes for a long time.

On energy, he said that 'crude production has gone up and we have now received barrels from our new friend and partner Venezuela'. And he said he agreed a new plan with Big Tech for companies to help pay for the increased cost of electricity where they consume a lot of it for their data centres. He also promoted new housing projects, with limits on rental housing purchases by big investors to keep costs down.

He attacked the health care reform passed in the past by the Democrats and known as Obamacare, proposing a plan dubbed Great American Healthcare where public funds do not subsidise and regulate health insurance policies but end up directly in the pockets of consumers. A plan considered ineffective by critics. He went on to say that it will push prescription drug costs down. "We will put an end to the insanely inflated costs of drugs," he said promoting a new government website on medicines and negotiations with pharmaceutical companies.

He called for a cultural revival of Christian, conservative and traditional values in the country. He recalled Charlie Kirk, the controversial right-wing militant killed in an assassination attempt, whose widow was among the guests in the courtroom. He also called for an end to the Gods, diversity equity and inclusion programmes.

In foreign policy he offered no surprises, merely promoting his own instincts. He reiterated that he had 'ended eight wars', including the one in Gaza where all peace remains uncertain and violence continues. On Ukraine, he repeated that the Russian invasion would not have happened if he had been president. The propensity for military interventions and adventures, 'peace through force', however, remains an unknown and is also ill-suited to the isolationism of part of the Maga movement, from threats to conquer or buy Greenland from ally Denmark, to the ultimate dilemma over an attack on Iran.

The president now has the largest US war force in over two decades in the Middle East and is weighing his options. Last night he declared that his preference 'is to resolve this through diplomacy', but issued a new warning: 'We will not allow' Iran to 'have nuclear weapons' and pursue 'sinister' ambitions. He also emphasised that the US under him has nonetheless greatly strengthened its armed forces and celebrated the successful blitz in Venezuela to capture Nicolas Maduro.

During the speech, Trump also put a face to his optimism by celebrating sports victories: he saluted the men's hockey team, which won gold at the Winter Olympics, and promised the goalkeeping athlete the Medal of Freedom, the highest US vicile honour. The team distinguished itself after the medal for a series of controversial behaviour, from wild parties to misogynistic statements. He also cited the success of the women's team, which, however, declined an invitation to Congress. He said he was now looking forward to the World Cup in the US and then the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Where, he said, 'I will do a good job'. Whether he has done a good job in actually addressing the State of the Union remains to be seen.