In the finale of his third State of the Union address this week, President Trump said his administration is making the nation “greater than ever before,” and about a dozen people attending a watch party in North Huntingdon organized by the Westmoreland County chapter of Young Republicans agreed.

Among the achievements Trump claimed that received the loudest applause from the group at the Jacktown Ride and Hunt Club were his efforts to rework the foreign trade landscape in favor of the United States and his report of millions of people leaving welfare and food stamp rolls.

“I think he’s done a great job,” Steve Cleaveland, 45, of North Huntingdon said of Trump. “The economy is doing fantastic. Things are looking really good.”

Susanna DeJeet, 62, of Delmont said she has been a strong supporter of Trump since 2016 and she hopes to be a Republican delegate supporting him in this year’s presidential election.

“I liked his policies, and I thought, this is a person who has the spine to bring those policies about,” she said.

DeJeet said she admires Trump’s support for service members and veterans — which was on display Tuesday, as Trump paused from his remarks to reunite a military family and to recognize the survivors of others who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror.

DeJeet said she also was impressed by Trump’s attendance at the recent March For Life pro-life rally in the nation’s capital.

“I like that he was the first president to go to the pro-life rally,” she said.

Alexander Brown, 28 of New Stanton, a Greensburg attorney who is chairman of the Westmore­land Young Republicans chapter, referred to Trump’s foreign trade moves as a welcome example of the president’s willingness “to go out of the box that many presidents on the Republican side have been put into. Looking out for our manufacturers and the folks in the trades, that’s something that our party has not been particularly good at until the last three or four years.”

Barton Maser, 66, a veteran who is a Republican committee member in North Huntingdon Ward 1-1, said he supported presidential candidate Ted Cruz in 2016 but has grown to like Trump because “when he says something, he keeps his word.” That stance was reflected in his red attire bearing the president’s surname.

“Build the wall,” Maser shouted later as Trump spoke about his border and immigration policies and stance against sanctuary cities.

Maser said he has reservations about the president’s mode of communication. “Some of those tweets, knock it off,” he said, expressing regret that some of the president’s tweets have unnecessarily given ammunition to his opponents.

Maser also said he would have preferred if Trump would have waited until the final vote in the president’s impeachment trial — scheduled for today — was over before he delivered his State of the Union address. “Let the air clear, because this is still overhanging him,” Maser said.

Cleaveland joined many in the room in regretting the impeachment process began at all. “There is no evidence and there’s no votes for it,” he said. “The only reason to put it forward is to have a television show.”

Brown said it was the right choice for Trump not to refer to the impeachment trial during his address. “It’s a good idea to move on from that chapter in our country’s history and instead look forward in an optimistic fashion,” he said. “I think the president did a very good job of listing his accomplishments in a way that everyone can appreciate.”

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