How did our region see the US President’s speech? Dewey Sim of South China Morning Post reports that in the 1 hour 47 minute address, Trump cast himself as a global peacemaker and touted his economic credentials.

US President Donald Trump delivered his first official State of Union address of his second term on Tuesday night, defending his policies and touting his administration’s biggest achievements since his return to the White House.

In the longest speech of its kind, Trump spoke of a “golden age of America”, saying “America is respected again, perhaps like never before”.

The American leader is grappling with a series of challenges, including rising economic woes, mounting foreign policy tensions and sharp political divisions before the midterm elections.

Throughout the near-two-hour address, he made no direct mention of China.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Domestic policy

Trump devoted a considerable part of his speech to his administration’s key domestic achievements, saying he had inherited a “nation in crisis” with a stagnant economy about a year ago when he returned to office.

But now, he said, the US border was secure, inflation was plummeting and the economy was “roaring like never before”.

“Our enemies are scared. Our military and police are stacked. And America is respected again, perhaps like never before,” Trump said.

“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.

“Our nation is back. Bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.”

Tariff policy

While countries including China have pushed back against Trump’s sweeping tariffs on their goods, the American leader on Tuesday defended his policy, saying nations were “ripping us off for decades”.

“I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars, to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis,” he said. “Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars.”

He called  last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down his executive tariff powers as “very unfortunate” and “disappointing”.

Following that ruling, Trump said he imposed a 15 per cent temporary tariff rate on imports from all countries. He said his administration would determine and issue “new and legally permissible tariffs” in the next “short number of months”.

Venezuela

While Washington’s January abduction of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro raised concerns over regional stability, Trump described the US operation as “one of the most complex, spectacular feats of military competence and power in world history”.

“No one’s seen anything like it. Foreign leaders … called me and they said, very impressive,” he said.

“This was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States, and it also opens up a bright new beginning for the people of Venezuela,” he continued, adding that he would work with the new Venezuelan government to “unleash extraordinary economic gains … and bring new hope” to the country.

At one point, Trump said he had received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, which he described as “our new friend and partner”.

China had earlier condemned the US attack, framing it as a violation of international law and calling for Maduro’s release.

China

China did not feature much in Trump’s address but the American leader poked fun at the Chinese military technology in use by the Venezuelan military at the time of the American operation to capture Maduro.

“This was a major military installation, protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technologies. How did that go for them?” he said, referring to the January operation.

“American armed forces overwhelmed all defences of the enemy to end the reign of dictator Nicolas Maduro and bring him to justice,” he said.

Ending global conflicts + Iran

Trump sought to portray himself as a global peacemaker during his address, claiming that he had ended eight wars and was prepared to do more. This, he said, included conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia and India and Pakistan as well as the Gaza war.

The American leader repeated earlier remarks that the Ukraine war “would have never happened if I were president”.

On Iran, he touted US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last year as a “breakthrough operation”, saying Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”.

“They were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular nuclear weapons. Yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out and they want to start all over again and at this moment … pursuing their sinister ambitions,” he said.

“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 terrorism … to have a nuclear weapon.”

Republished from South China Morning Post, 25 February, 2026,