The State of the Union Address: Another ‘Augustan Moment’ for Trump 

The State of the Union Address: Another ‘Augustan Moment’ for Trump 

President Trump has been compared by benevolent pundits to Emperor Augustus as a figure of authority who has brought peace and prosperity to his nation and the world. These efforts remain, not surprisingly, unrecognized by leftist institutions, such as the mainstream Western media or the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

When I listened to the State of the Union Address this year, I was reminded of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti — the fascinating autobiographical record of Augustus’ achievements, published in various places throughout the Roman Empire and largely preserved to this day.

The so-called Monumentum Ancyranum is the most complete copy of this record, inscribed on the walls of a temple of Augustus in what is now Ankara. Our practice of delivering a State of the Union address harkens back to a long and glorious tradition of recounting successes that can be traced to ancient Rome.

Augustus wrote:

I extended the territory of all those provinces of the Roman people on whose borders lay peoples not subject to our government. I brought peace to the Gallic and Spanish provinces as well as to Germany, throughout the area bordering on the Ocean from Cadiz to the mouth of the Elbe. I secured the pacification of the Alps from the district nearest the Adriatic to the Tuscan Sea, yet without waging an unjust war on any people.

My fleet sailed through the ocean eastwards from the mouth of the Rhine to the territory of the Cimbri, a country which no Roman had visited before either by land or sea, and the Cimbri, Charydes, Semnones and other German peoples of that region sent ambassadors and sought my friendship and that of the Roman people.

At my command and under my auspices two armies were led almost at the same time into Ethiopia and Arabia Felix; vast enemy forces of both peoples were cut down in battle and many towns captured.

Recalling his achievements in 2025, Trump remarked:

We’re proudly restoring safety for Americans at home, and we are also restoring security for Americans abroad. Our country has never been stronger. My first 10 months, I ended eight wars… Cambodia and Thailand. Pakistan and India would have been a nuclear war. 35 million people said the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died if it were not for my involvement. Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia. Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda. And of course, the war in Gaza, which proceeds at a very low level.

The State of the Union address this year was extremely detailed in listing various accomplishments, not unlike the Res Gestae. It reminded us that freedom is not free and that peace is best achieved through principled strength, which commands respect.

A Latin proverb states: Si vis pacem, para bellum, “If you want peace, prepare for war.” A strong military and respected law enforcement agencies are indispensable for lasting peace and stability. Only a nation confident in its values and their universally beneficial nature can prosper and endure:

Americans built this nation from 13 humble colonies into the pinnacle of human civilization and human freedom. The strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most successful nation in all of history. Americans ventured out across the daunting and dangerous continent. We carved pass through an unforgiving wilderness, settled a boundless frontier, and tamed the beautiful but very, very dangerous wild west.

From empty marshes and wide-open plains, we raised up the world’s greatest cities. Together we mastered the world’s mightiest industries, shattered history’s monstrous tyrannies. And we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression and terror.

I found the conclusion of the State of the Union address both poetic and powerful:

Americans lifted humanity into the skies or the wings of aluminum and steel. And then we launched mankind into the stars on rockets powered by sheer American will and unyielding American pride. We wired the globe with our ingenuity. We captivated the planet with American culture and now we are pioneering the next great American breakthroughs that will change the entire world.

All of this, and so much more, is the enduring legacy, unmatched glory of the hard-working patriots who built and defended this country and who still carry the hopes and freedoms on all of humanity’s backs. For years, they were forgotten, betrayed, and cast aside. But that great betrayal is over, and they will never be forgotten again. Because when the world needs courage, daring, vision and inspiration, it is still turning to America.

And when God needs a nation to work his miracles, he knows exactly who to ask. There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome, no frontier too vast for us to conquer, no dream too bold for us to chase, no horizon too distant for us to claim. For our destiny is written by the hand of Providence.

And these first 250 years were just the beginning. From the rugged border towns of Texas to the heartland villages of Michigan, from the sun-kissed shores of Florida to the endless hills of the Dakotas, and from the historic streets of Philadelphia to right here in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., the golden age of America is upon us.

Nora D. Clinton is a Research Scholar at the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. She holds a PhD in Classics and has published extensively on ancient documents on stone. In 2020, she authored the popular memoir Quarantine Reflections Across Two Worlds. Nora is a co-founder of two partner charities dedicated to academic cooperation and American values. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and son.

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