Trump warns countries against violating tariff deals, threatens higher levies

President Donald Trump's State of the Union address tilted heavily on domestic issues, but he also made the case for his foreign policy efforts to Americans who are increasingly uneasy about his priorities.

The president cheered brokering a fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza and his team's bringing home hostages taken by Hamas militants, capturing autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and pressing fellow NATO members to increase defence spending among his biggest wins. He also warned Iran anew as he builds up US forces in the region and weighs whether to carry out new military action against Tehran.

At a moment when polls show the American public increasingly concerned about the economy, Trump's assignment Tuesday evening also was to cut through thickening scepticism that he's staying true to his “America First” philosophy after a year in which his focus was often far from home.

It's a wariness shared by some who once counted themselves among Trump's closest allies. But Trump attempted to make the case that he's taking the right approach, balancing domestic policy concerns while using America's military might when needed. “As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must,” Trump said.

Sixty-one per cent of US adults said they disapprove of how Trump is handling foreign policy, while 56 per cent say Trump has “gone too far” in using the US military to intervene in other countries, according to surveys from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research conducted earlier this month and in January. Here are a few moments where Trump sought to explain his foreign policy approach 13 months into his second term:

Why is he talking about attacking Iran again

Trump explained to Americans why he's pondering military action, just eight months after he claimed that US strikes had “obliterated” three critical Iranian nuclear facilities and left “the bully of the Middle East" with no choice but to make peace.

“We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again. And they're at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said. “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.”

Earlier Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Our fundamental convictions are crystal clear: Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon.” Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet again on Thursday in Geneva with Iranian officials.

But the pathway to a deal seems murky as the authoritarian clerics who rule Iran say they will only discuss the nuclear issue. The US and Israel also want to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for regional armed proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Trump struggles to end the war in Ukraine

Tuesday also marked the four-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On the campaign trail, Trump boasted that he would be able to end the war in one day, but he has struggled to fulfil his pledge. He made scant mention of the war in his record-setting 108-minute speech.

“The killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month," Trump said, reiterating that he's working to end the war. Russian and Ukrainian officials are negotiating in US-mediated talks but are at loggerheads over key issues, including Russian demands that Kyiv concede Ukrainian territory still in its control and who will get the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe.

Tariff strategy following the Supreme Court ruling

The president, ahead of the address, ridiculed the six justices, including two conservatives he appointed in his first term, who last week struck down his use of a 1977 legal authority he had cited for most of the tariff hikes he imposed over the past year on friends and foes alike.

In his speech, he took a more measured tone, calling the decision “an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court.”

Trump on Monday threatened countries around the world to abide by any tariff deals they have already agreed to. Any country that wants to “play games” with the Supreme Court decision, Trump posted on social media, will be met with “a much higher tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.”

“The good news is almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made," Trump said Tuesday. He added, “The legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement."