It was the week in which GOP lawmakers experienced a beating at the polls, the federal closure became the most extended in history, and millions across the nation, including 3 million in Florida, saw their nutrition assistance reduced.
However, in the contrasting world of Miami, where tickets to an largely right-leaning business conference fronted by the former president were priced up to $1,990, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia mingled with equally wealthy US magnates including Jeff Bezos and the hedge fund manager, those developments generated scarcely any reaction.
Conversely, in a gesture that seemed almost to highlight the widening divide between the urban area's haves and have-nots, organizers of the America Business Forum prepared a small perk for participants: a $50 gift card to use on food to sustain themselves while they paid attention to their president praise himself for a era of prosperity he said his financial success had delivered.
Critics argue the action, along with the lavish extravagance of the conference itself, was an poorly timed insult to over a 500,000 local inhabitants who just saw their own ability to buy basic food items for their families curtailed by the reduction of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap).
“There’s just a massive cognitive dissonance between what ordinary citizens are experiencing, and the privileged,” said Larry Hannan, spokesperson of State Voices Florida, a alliance of over a hundred non-partisan, pro-democracy and civic engagement groups.
“The Amazon founder does not need a fifty-dollar meal voucher. But we observed that with the 1920s-inspired gala last week. They just appear unable to stop engaging in things that are strikingly out of touch.
“We’ve been through government closures before, and while clearly the presidential environment is always fairly insane, presidents are typically astute enough, they generally know not to display this type of stuff. But this administration does not seem to care.”
The leader's hour-long speech on Thursday had the flavor of a campaign event, with familiar insults for old political foes such as the Democratic leader and California’s governor, and a fresh target: the recently voted-in democratic socialist NYC leader.
Trump discussed his financial policies, and lauded a host of presenters from the worlds of politics, athletics and business that filled the two-day schedule, created primarily by the mayor of the city of Miami to highlight south Florida and its economic potential.
Lionel Messi, the Argentina football icon and World Cup winner, provided celebrity glitz from the athletic world, along with grand slam winners Rafael Nadal and the American athlete. A conversation between the Miami mayor and the Nobel laureate, the democracy activist who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was well received on day one.
Nevertheless overall it was a notable and clearly politically charged event with a field of supportive speakers on the stage, enthusiastically applauded by a audience of predominantly younger and affluent supporters of the leader in the audience, some combining business suits with his trademark red MAGA caps.
In what other way to explain the presence of the rightwing president of Argentina, the country whose shaky economy Trump supported last month with a twenty-billion-dollar currency swap? Or that of Saudi Arabians the fund chief, head of its massive sovereign wealth fund, and the ambassador, Riyadh’s diplomatic envoy, touting their nation as ripe for investment while the former first family's business connections and influence there face greater scrutiny?
Then there was the leader of Fifa, dropping hints that the former president is being considered for the group's first peace prize, an unwanted honor that commentators see established specifically for the president as consolation for his prize rejection.
Additional participants, including the CEO of JP Morgan; the creator of WeWork; and the hedge-fund manager, have all previously praised, worked with or backed the former president, offering more than a suggestion of a partisan lineup.
The city leader, unsurprisingly, had a contrasting view.
“We wanted it to be a kind of a diverse representation from various sectors, right?” he told media.
“We convened. We said, ‘Hey, what are the leading voices?’ Individuals from different backgrounds, various heritages, all genders … sports, business, politics, tech, things that impact daily life.”
He highlighted discussions of forthcoming, money-spinning notable events in Miami, including the F1 race, next year’s global conference at a leisure property, and matches during the 2026 World Cup, which he called “a historic moment”.
“Our hope is that local residents are transformed by the experience,” the mayor said. “We want them to leave believing, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The advocates of the civic group, on the other hand, contend many locals are more focused right now on different concerns, especially rising housing and grocery prices. Florida’s GOP leader declined a call from the organization and others to declare an emergency over food assistance and tap state reserves to support urgent nutrition programs.
“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his job to care for the people of the state, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” Hannan said, observing the contrast of a summit of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the same county in which almost 25% of households depend on Snap benefits to get by.
“There just seems to be this detachment at the top. I don’t think the solution is choosing a liberal or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have more empathy for people who are struggling in this state.”
Empathy was in limited quantity in the city from Trump, a president not known for ever taking responsibility during a difficult period.
“The radical left Democrats are resulting in countless of citizens who depend on nutritional aid to go without support,” he said, blaming the out-of-office party for the federal closure.
“I just want to have a nation that’s prosperous once more. Is that OK?”
