Combative Trump declares 'America is back'. Here's what his voters made of it

March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday received high marks from a group of voters who backed the president in November's election, saying in interviews they supported his promises to cut taxes, reshape the government and crack down on immigration.

From diehard supporters of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement to voters who consider themselves more centrist, the following eight people represent a cross-section of the Americans who helped re-elect Trump. Shortly after the 99-minute address ended, they shared their reactions with Reuters.

Each one graded Trump's speech and answered a few questions about it. Following are their remarks, edited and condensed for clarity:

Antonio Aponte, 36, is a nurse originally from Puerto Rico who works for the Veterans Administration in Wyoming, but is currently deployed in Jordan with the state's National Guard. He voted for Trump because he wanted to see government spending cut and any wasted funds re-purposed.

Question: What grade do you give the president's address?

Answer: A-

Q: What did you like about it?

A: The whole mass deportation effort resonates with me because you have a lot of Hispanics who were born here, who were naturalized legally, and then all these illegal immigrants give the rest of us a bad name. I liked the $5 million for citizenship program because you can't just close the border completely, but you can't just flood it with anybody who wants to come in.

Q: What didn't you like about it?

A: I'm an isolationist, so I'm not particularly fond of the plan to get Greenland. Is it really worth putting soldiers' boots on the ground to get either another commonwealth or a new state? Let's fix ourselves first and then spread the wealth.

Q: What changes did he announce or promise that will impact your everyday life?

A: His changes to the military will impact me, not necessarily directly, but definitely our administrative support will be affected because of all the people who are going to take the buyout and leave their jobs. Will it be bad? Probably not, because they're trying to end a lot of waste, fraud and abuse.

Will Brown, 20, is a student at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who wants to pursue a career in finance. He volunteered for Trump's campaign, and said his main reason for supporting Trump was wanting to see prices go down. He also wants to see immigration reduced. Trump's recent comments on resettling Gaza were one of the few matters about which Brown disapproves, but he said they might be a bargaining tactic.

Q: What grade do you give the president's address?

A: B+

Q: What did you like about it?

A: I like how he made some jokes today, which are always good. The fact he covered the economy as a whole and his tariffs as a whole is a plus, and that he covered both wars, the Israeli war and the Ukraine Russo war.

Q: What didn't you like about it?

A: It ran long.

Q: What changes did he announce or promise that will impact your everyday life?

A: If he ends the Ukrainian war, we'd see a lot less refugees. That would be a small if not negligible effect on my life but for a lot of people in Europe and Ukraine that would have a big effect on their lives.

Lesa Sandberg, 57, runs an accounting business, rents several properties, and works for former Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz's political action committee in Utah. A longtime supporter of Trump, she's excited for him to extend a small business tax credit from his first term. She does question some things Trump has done, such as whether his effort to end birthright citizenship is constitutional.

Q: What grade do you give the president's address?

A: A+ It was jam packed full of everything he's been doing.

Q: What did you like about it?

A: The whole attitude of Americanism, patriotism, the excellence of America and moving us back in that direction and being una...
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