State of the Union updates: Trump spars with Dems, touts economy and immigration

Trump awarded two Purple Heart medals to members of the National Guard who were attacked in Washington, D.C., in November.

In awarding the medals to Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe and to the family of late Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who was killed in the attack, Trump praised their bravery.

"After a four-month deployment, she voluntarily extended her service, and her rank was going to be lifted. She was doing so well. They were so proud of her," Trump said of Beckstrom.

President Donald Trump has set a record by delivering the longest-ever State of the Union speech or joint address to Congress, speaking for more than 1 hour and 41 minutes Tuesday night.

Trump set a record last year for the longest address to a joint session of Congress, speaking for 1 hour, 39 minutes and 32 seconds. That speech was technically not a State of the Union address because it occurred only six weeks into his term.

The previous record for a state of the Union was set by President Bill Clinton in 2000: 1 hour, 28 minutes and 49 seconds.

That's according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which has tracked speech length since President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

The president appeared to reference the killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, better known as "El Mencho."

The Mexican army killed Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday during an attempt to capture him in the western state of Jalisco. Both Mexico and the United States confirmed that there was U.S. intelligence support for the operation.

"We've also taken down one of the most sinister cartel kingpins of all. You saw that yesterday," Trump said.

Some 70 people died in the operation and violence that erupted after it.

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.