“Our rise to being the world's strongest and most powerful nation was no accident of history . We rebuilt our military in my first term. We use it a little bit in our... Actually, I should say third term, but I won't do that because I don't want any controversy,” he said.

“But we use it, and we've had tremendous success. You look at Venezuela , you look at Iran. We wiped it out. Wiped out their military.”

Later in the speech, Trump compared a recent US operation against Iran to the US Navy’s victory over Spain at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898.

“To its right, the banner that flew atop our flagship after America's Navy sank the Spanish fleet to the bottom of the Manila Bay, one of the greatest naval victories in history, much like our recent victory by sinking the entire Iranian Navy, 159 ships to the bottom of the sea, all done in just a moment's time. Happened very quickly,” he said.

The remarks come amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran following recent military exchanges and ongoing disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme and regional security.