Scott Seitz stares at me through red-rimmed eyes, recounting the economic devastation in his village of McDonald, Ohio. The town’s fortunes have always been tied to the steel mills, for better, or, more recently, for much worse. With the flight of the steel industry, the tax base of tiny McDonald has gone too, along with its only pharmacy, all of its bars, and hope for replacing its failing sewer and gas lines. But it is not the state of McDonald that renders Seitz emotional, but the fate of his family, which is plagued with all the modern symptoms of the American working class: unemployment, heroin addiction, single fatherhood, and lost opportunity. It is enough to make a middle-aged steel worker teary-eyed and a little desperate, which is why Scott Seitz—a lifelong Democrat, a committed union man, a two-time Obama voter—voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Trump spoke in plain language on the only issue Seitz really cares about: jobs, jobs, jobs.

I first came to the Youngstown area in December to report on the expectations of Trump voters, in particular the white working-class voters who had helped propel Trump to victory. I returned last month to see whether those voters were disillusioned by the torrent of unfavorable news leaking out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I spent 36 hours in the area, but I could have saved myself some time because it was clear from the get-go that support for Trump in the area has not substantially weakened. Over and over, I was told that if the election were held again today, the result would be the same.

Today, the conversation in Youngstown is less about national politics and more about the retail politics of filling potholes and filling jobs. Or more often, talk is turning to the athletic renaissance of the local teams and the prospects for the Penguins, Cavs, and Indians. You can chalk that all up to disengagement and weariness, and certainly there is much of that, but it also reflects the overwhelming message that Trump needs to be given a chance, that four months is not a fair measure of the man. There is a sense that despite Trump’s bluster, he would have a steep learning curve, and in four months that has certainly been proven to be true. But by and large, voters express anger not at Trump’s initial failure to master Washington, but at the news media and at Democrats for not working with him. Sally Williams, a health-care worker, tells me that “no one has given Trump a chance,” and even Dave Betras, the ever-colorful head of the Mahoning County Democrats, advises the media to “get off that bullshit,” referring specifically to the brush-off that the First Lady gave to President Trump on the tarmac in Saudi Arabia, but generally to the hyper-enthusiasm of the press and the Democrats for deconstructing every small mistake of the president. When I ask John McNally, the Democratic mayor of Youngstown, whether the Democrats have learned any lessons from last year, he shrugs, “I don’t know. Picking at the Republicans' every mistake and gaffe won’t work around here.”

When every new day brings a bewildering rush of controversy, the big stuff might be missed, and that is exactly what is happening. Not a single voter expresses any concern over James Comey or the Russia investigation, largely waving it off as an example of the hyper-partisanship of Washington. Kevin Wyndham, the head of the Republican Party in Trumbull County, dismisses it as a conspiracy theory, and Seitz is similarly unimpressed: “Russia and Comey don’t register. Ninety percent of [my friends] don’t even know about it.” It is not surprising, really; most of the Trump voters think they have sent a message to Washington to stop business as usual and to focus on the issues that matter to them. If anything, the steady stories about Jared Kushner’s machinations, the shoving of the prime minister of Montenegro, or the latest mockery of Sean Spicer are at best seen as a diversion and at worst a big middle finger towards their real-life challenges.

It is not love of Trump that drives his support, at least among the group I meet. His tweeting and general demeanor are universally viewed as immature and distracting, and his frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago draw more than one comment that he should get his ass back to the White House and do his job. And several supporters share their reservations about health-care reform. But that is still outweighed by the belief that Trump is the type of disrupter who will shake up the status quo that has served the area so poorly. It is expressed to me multiple ways: jumbling up the marble jar, breaking up the iceberg, burning down Washington, or simply just blowing that shit up, but it all amounts to doing things differently, and for better or worse, Trump still gets credit just for being a thorn in the side of the establishment of both parties.