President Donald Trump declared Tuesday night that while he will "make peace wherever I can," he will "never hesitate to confront threats to America," delivering a forceful warning to Iran during his State of the Union address.
Framing his foreign policy as peace through strength, Trump pointed to last year's U.S. military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities as proof of his resolve.
"As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America, wherever we must," Trump said in the address carried live by Newsmax and N2.
"That's why, in a breakthrough operation last June, the United States military obliterated Iran's nuclear weapons program with an attack on Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight Hammer."
Operation Midnight Hammer marked one of the most aggressive U.S. actions against Iran's nuclear infrastructure in decades. Trump said the strike was necessary to enforce a long-standing American red line.
"For decades, it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon," he said.
Trump described Iran's regime as dangerous and expansionist, warning lawmakers that Tehran has continued advancing its missile capabilities.
"But this is some terrible people. 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," he said.
Despite the strike, Trump accused Iran of attempting to rebuild its nuclear program.
"After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program ... yet they continue starting it all over," Trump said. "We wiped it out and they want to start all over again."
At the same time, the president revealed that negotiations are underway.
"At this moment ... we are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: 'We will never have a nuclear weapon.'"
Diplomatic talks have reportedly resumed through intermediaries in the Middle East and Europe, with U.S. officials demanding explicit and verifiable guarantees that Iran will abandon uranium enrichment capable of producing a weapon. Iranian officials, meanwhile, have sought sanctions relief in exchange for limits on their nuclear activities.
"My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy," Trump said. "But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror ... to have a nuclear weapon."
He concluded with a warning: "No nation should ever doubt America's resolve."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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