The president's record-breaking speech comes as polls suggest Americans are souring on his agenda ahead of crucial midterm elections.

"We haven't heard those secret words: 'We will never have a nuclear weapon,'" Trump said of Iran talks at the State of the Union.

After ordering the largest American military buildup in the Middle East since the onset of the Iraq War, President Donald Trump now has a decision to make on Iran.

The president says he has overseen a "turnaround for the ages", as polls suggest voters are souring on his second-term agenda.

Donald Trump lashed out at Tehran’s “sinister” nuclear ambitions in his State of the Union address as he laid out Washington’s justification for possible US military action against the Islamic republic. The US president accused Iran of seeking to rebuild its nuclear weapons programme as he spoke before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Perspective: Venezuela comparisons are tempting, but Iran is a far tougher, more entrenched adversary.

Marco Rubio is attending a regional summit to emphasize the Trump administration’s focus on the Western Hemisphere even as conflict in the Middle East looms.

The remarks differ from what Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is said to have told the president in high-level White House meetings.