In record State of the Union, Trump spars with Dems, touts economy and immigration

Trump delivered a message to Iran as tensions continue to build in the region.

"They were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular nuclear weapons, yet they continue, starting it all over," Trump said. "We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are, at this moment, again pursuing their sinister ambitions."

"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.'"

"My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon," he continued.

Earlier in his speech, Trump paid respect to assassinated conservative host Charlie Kirk, and paid tribute to his widow Erika.

1:32

Trump honors Charlie Kirk at State of the Union address"In Charlie's memory we must call come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God, and we must totally reject political violence," President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

ABCNews.com

Members applauded her with a chant of "Charlie, Charlie."

"In Charlie's memory we must call come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God, and we must totally reject political violence," Trump said.

At least a dozen Democrats have exited the chamber by 10:24 p.m., roughly an hour into the speech.

Many of the members have left individually from time to time during the speech.

-ABC News' John Parkinson

TRUMP CLAIM: “The cheating is rampant in our elections. It's rampant.”

FACT CHECK: False

Trump has repeatedly alleged that undocumented immigrants have improperly influenced federal elections, but state voting data suggest that such instances are incredibly rare.

In 2024, voter roll audits in states including Georgia, Ohio, and Iowa, leading up to the 2024 election, uncovered very few instances of noncitizen voting in federal elections. A comprehensive audit of Georgia's voter rolls -- which include 8.2 million registered voters -- uncovered 20 noncitizens who registered to vote, including nine instances when noncitizens actually cast a ballot. A similar audit of Iowa's 2.3 million voters revealed 87 instances where individuals cast ballots and later self-reported as noncitizens.

According to research from the non-partisan nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research, allegations of sweeping and coordinated voter fraud generally arise from “misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, or outright fabrications about complex voter data,” and most instances of voting fraud are rare and swiftly prosecuted by authorities.

-ABC News' Peter Charalambous