In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, President Trump should boast of his triumphs this last year — and offer a frank and positive take on the work still ahead.

The nation should see him as the happy warrior he deserves to be: cheerful, proud, upbeat.

Trump began his second term full of optimism, promising a “golden age,” reversing the misery and turmoil of the Biden years — and immediately started making good on his vows.

He secured the border almost instantly, cutting the illegal migrant inflow by more than 90%, and soon close to 100% (and so debunking Democrats’ yearslong claims that the job was impossible without new laws).

Inflation fell from a high of 9.1% under President Joe Biden to just 2.7% last year.

Over Democrats’ vociferous objections, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill prevented economy-killing tax hikes and provided new tax cuts — on tips, overtime, Social Security, etc. — to benefit working folks.

His energy policies produced plummeting prices at the pump and put the country back on the path to abundant, low-cost power (at least in states not run by carbon-hating Dems).

Crime plunged stunningly, with 2025 seeing the largest single-year drop in murders on record and the lowest murder rate in 125 years.

Even before his inauguration, Trump got Hamas to agree to a cease-fire that led to the immediate release of its Israeli hostages; he then secured a broader deal that saw all remaining captives released and provided a framework for a permanent peace in Gaza.  

The prez also brokered accords stopping no less than seven other global conflicts.

Yet he also did something no other president has had the cojones to do: Destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, setting its bomb program back years.

And directed the capture of Venezuela’s criminal dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

Trump also pushed back on the antisemitism and racism plaguing the nation’s universities and on DEI — and he’s rebuilding the US military with a focus on preparedness, not pronouns.

All that work has left the nation far, far stronger, so it’s beyond fitting that Trump’s address will come on the heels of two Olympic hockey golds, with a pride summed up by Jack Hughes: “This is all about our country right now,” he cheered. “I’m so proud to be American today.”

We expect the prez to reflect that joy in his speech, even as he acknowledges the challenges still ahead.

Above all: Americans are still nervous about the economy, unsure if it’s truly climbing out of the hole that Biden dug, wondering when it’ll stop feeling like they’re still losing ground.

That’s why they need this address in the end to be about them — with their president laying out credible cause for hope.

That leaves no room for any of Trump’s own grievances, and demands some clear if subtle signs that he understands the public’s worries in the wake of scenes like the chaos in Minneapolis.

One good way to deliver that is to repeat his longstanding support for legal immigration — for America welcoming new entrants who can help build our better future.

Sending the chaotic Biden illegal surge home (an estimated 2.5 million are gone already) goes hand in hand with welcoming a regulated legal influx.

With an eye on the midterms, Democrats (and their media auxiliaries) will continue doing all they can to sow anxiety and sour the public mood: Enough pessimism, and they might even manage to derail or delay the recovery.

By reassuring the country in his State of the Union, Trump will serves his party’s best interests as well as the nation’s.