State of the Union could be Trump’s best chance to sell voters on Iran plans

WASHINGTON – The State of the Union address on Feb 24 provides President Donald Trump with a nationally televised opportunity to persuade sceptical American voters to rally behind his

threatened strikes against Iran

over its nuclear programme.

Advisers have urged Mr Trump to focus on the economy, immigration and other domestic policy issues when he takes the US House of Representatives podium

for the speech

at 9pm Eastern time (10am Singapore time, Feb 25).

That has not been his focus to date.

Instead, the run-up to the event has been overshadowed by a huge

build-up of US military forces in the Middle East

and preparations for a conflict with Iran that could last for weeks if Tehran does not reach a deal to solve a longstanding dispute over its nuclear programme.

On Feb 23, Mr Trump dismissed talk that some members of his administration have doubts about going to war with Iran.

“I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people,” Mr Trump said in a social media post.

Mr Trump rose to the top of US politics with the passionate support of a political base that embraces his “America First” policies and his vow to end an era of “forever wars” like the long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Trump’s fellow Republicans also

took control of both the House of Representatives and Senate

as his “Make America Great Again” message resonated with many Americans, but opinion polls show the party will struggle to keep control of Congress.

The risks from an Iran conflict are not merely political.

Mr Trump and his aides have touted his successful capture in January

of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro

, but Iran, a nation of 93 million people with a large supply of missiles, is a more formidable foe.

Mr Trump asserted in July 2025 that

US strikes on Iran

in June 2025 had been so successful that they “obliterated” the country’s nuclear facilities, saying “it would take years to bring them back into service”.

However, as US ships and other military equipment amassed near Iran, Mr Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who leads nuclear negotiations on the US side, said on Feb 22 on Fox News that Iran was “probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material”.

Mr Trump’s audience on Feb 24 includes Democrats in Congress who criticised him for

scrapping a 2015 agreement

that limited Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief only to later threaten military action while seeking a new pact.

“Trump is bumbling his way towards war with Iran in a feeble attempt to accomplish what had already been done by a diplomatic deal that was effectively curbing Iran’s nuclear programme – until Trump tore it up, over the objections of his then Secretaries of Defence and State,” Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said in a statement. REUTERS