President-Elect Trump Continues 'Thank You' Tour With Rally In Iowa

Donald Trump is on a "thank you" tour, holding rallies in battleground states that voted for him. On Thursday night, the president-elect held a rally in Des Moines, Iowa.

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Donald Trump's supporters have some tough words for voters who are unhappy with the election results. Get over it. They are excited to see what Trump will do as president. NPR's Sarah McCammon spoke with some enthusiastic Trump fans in Des Moines, Iowa, last night. It was one of the stops on the president-elect's thank you tour of battleground states.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: The look and feel of Trump's thank-you tour is a lot like his campaign, though the mood is a little more toned-down, as is the music, compared to the deafening volumes that were standard at Trump rallies. Trump supporter Greg Hilsabeck of the small town of Adel said it meant a lot to see the president-elect back in Iowa.

GREG HILSABECK: We can't think of any other presidential-elect that's come around and thanked everybody.

MCCAMMON: Hilsabeck says now he wants Trump to bring down the national debt and tone down his rhetoric.

HILSABECK: I'd like him just to be factual, humble and just sincere.

MCCAMMON: Do you think he's capable of that?

HILSABECK: I do, yeah, I do. I think he's - well, he's obviously had a flamboyant life in all that he's done. But I also think that he understands now that it's over.

MCCAMMON: Deborah La Grange, a dental assistant from Des Moines, was less concerned with Trump's tone. She says it's time for everyone to get behind his economic agenda.

DEBORAH LA GRANGE: He can't do any worse than what we've had for the last eight years.

GARY ROBERTS: Exactly.

LA GRANGE: I mean, I - you know, everybody is protesting that Trump got in. I'm sorry, but I didn't whine and cry when Obama got in for the last eight. I mean pull up your panties, and let's deal with it. Let's all unify. Let's get on board. Let's stand behind him. And let's make him make a change for the United States.

MCCAMMON: Her friend Gary Roberts hopes Trump can upend the status quo in Washington which he says is out of touch with the rest of the country. Roberts says he wants to see Trump get rid of lobbyists. But when asked about Trump considering Wall Street executives for his cabinet and putting lobbyists on his transition team, Roberts said he's not concerned.

ROBERTS: No, not really because I think he's got enough insight to pick people that are as smart as he is and have been involved in business prior to this. The establishment needs to go away. And if Congress doesn't come through, I think you're going to see this silent majority booting them all out, too.

MCCAMMON: David Moritz, a web developer from Norwalk, Iowa, said his main concern is getting conservative justices on the Supreme Court, and as long as Trump does that, he'll be satisfied. But he also worries that some Trump supporters' expectations may be too high.

DAVID MORITZ: A lot of people project their own ideas onto him. They feel like that - whatever their highest dream is, they project onto him and say that he will make this happen. I tend to think that that's going to create a lot of uneasiness in the people when he ends up being just a regular human.

MCCAMMON: For Steve Kopf of Urbandale, Trump's thank-you tour is a smart way to push his agenda forward.

STEVE KOPF: And he's got a lot to get done. So he's out to rally the troops, make sure everybody's going to support him.

MCCAMMON: Kopf believes Trump has a mandate from voters that Congress can't ignore even though he lost the popular vote.

KOPF: The Electoral College is there for a reason - so that we don't get overlooked here in Iowa. If California and New York were in charge of the election, this whole country would be a disaster.

MCCAMMON: Mandate or not, Trump soon must govern the nation from coast to coast and everything in between. He's scheduled to keep visiting states that he won at least through late next week. Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Washington.

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