Reuters — US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday provides him with a nationally televised opportunity to persuade skeptical American voters to rally behind his threatened strikes against Iran over its nuclear program and its deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Advisers have urged 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 9 p.m. Eastern Time (4 a.m. Israel time on Wednesday).

Even with midterm elections approaching in the US, that has not been his focus to date.

Instead, the run-up to the event has been overshadowed by a huge buildup of US military forces in the Middle East and preparations for a potential conflict with Iran that could last for weeks if Tehran does not reach a deal to solve a longstanding dispute over its nuclear program.

Trump has not laid out in detail to the American public why he might be leading the US into its most aggressive action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Trump previously ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at the end of the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June 2025.

On Monday, he dismissed talk that some members of his administration, including the chief of the US military, 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,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

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