Trump: State of the Union address ‘delivered from the heart’

President Trump early Thursday thanked viewers for complimenting him on his first State of the Union address on Thursday, saying the speech was “delivered from the heart.”

The president also offered praise to Fox News for its performance on Tuesday. 

“Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. Fox News beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!” Trump tweeted. 

Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 1, 2018

Viewership figures provided by Nielsen, however, show higher viewership for past presidential addresses to Congress.

Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress early last year attracted at total of 47.7 million viewers, for example, while former President Obama had 48 million in January 2010 and 52 million in February 2009 and former President George W. Bush had 62 million in Jan. 2003 and 51.9 million in January 2002, according to Nielsen.

Trump hosted various guests at the event in an effort to push his policies, including a defector from North Korea and the parents of two victims of international criminal gang MS-13. 

{mosads}The immigration debate dominated Trump’s address, with Trump defending his administration’s stance on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children from deportation. 

Trump gained praise from supporters and ire from critics when he declared that “Americans are dreamers too,” in a reference to DACA recipients. 

The president also slammed the North Korean and Iranian regimes amid heightened tensions between those nations and the U.S.