Trump's Union address offers little hint of any change in course

NEW YORK, Feb 25 (BBC/AFP): Donald Trump delivered a combative State of the Union address on Tuesday night that hailed what he said was an American "turnaround for the ages".
At a time when polls suggest many in the US are dissatisfied with the current state of the nation - and with Trump's leadership of it - the president offered little hint of a change of course.
Instead, with an eye on crucial midterm elections later this year, he delivered a sales pitch to the nation, a patriotic rallying cry to his loyal supporters and taunts for his political opponents.
It was a speech filled with theatrical flourishes - the kind of made-for-the-cameras moments the man who once hosted a reality television show seems to enjoy.
Early on, he welcomed the US Olympic men's hockey team to the gallery. They held up their gold medals as Republicans chanted "USA!" and even Democrats stood and applauded.
Later, Trump praised military heroes including a 100-year-old World War Two veteran who received a Medal of Honor, and a Coast Guard swimmer who rescued 165 people trapped in last year's Texas flooding and was given a Legion of Merit award for Extraordinary Heroism.
Although his speech set a record for length at 107 minutes, these moments quickened the pace of the evening and fit with the president's larger theme of American patriotism and accomplishment.
His speech opened with familiar lines. "Our nation is back," he said. It was the "hottest" country in the world. At one point, after blaming Democrats for creating a crisis of "affordability", he added: "We are doing really well."
He pointed to the rising incomes, a growing stock market, lower petrol prices, a southern border with dramatically reduced undocumented migrant crossing and tamed inflation.
"Our country is winning again," he concluded.
The challenge for the president is that his public approval ratings are hovering around 40 percent, and the American public wants him to do more to address their concerns.
Two months ago, he gave a national address from the White House where he struck similar themes and cited similar statistics - but it hasn't convinced the public. The president and his aides appear to be hoping that with a bigger State of the Union audience, which should measure in the tens of millions, the results will be different.
Trump claimed Iran is seeking to develop missiles that can strike the United States-long-range weapons technology that only a limited number of countries possess.
"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," Trump said during his State of the Union address.
In 2025, the US Defense Intelligence Agency said Iran could potentially develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 "should Tehran decide to pursue the capability," but did not say if it had made such a decision.
Tehran currently possesses short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with ranges that top out at about 1,850 miles (3,000 kilometers), according to the US Congressional Research Service.