It was the week in which GOP lawmakers experienced a beating at the ballot box, the government shutdown became the longest in history, and millions throughout the nation, including 3 million in the Sunshine State, experienced their federal food aid reduced.
Yet, in the alternative reality of Miami, where admission passes to an overwhelmingly right-leaning corporate gathering headlined by the former president cost up to $1,990, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia mingled with similarly affluent US magnates including Jeff Bezos and Ken Griffin, those events generated scarcely any reaction.
Instead, in a gesture that seemed almost to highlight the growing disparity between the city’s haves and have-nots, organizers of the corporate summit prepared a small perk for attendees: a fifty-dollar gift card to use on meals to sustain themselves while they listened to their leader congratulate himself for a era of prosperity he said his “economic miracle” had achieved.
Advocates say the action, along with the high-budget extravagance of the conference itself, was an ill-timed affront to more than a half-million 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 exists a significant disconnect between what real people are going through, and the privileged,” said Larry Hannan, communications and policy director of a civic coalition, a alliance of more than a 100 non-partisan, democracy-focused and community involvement groups.
“Jeff Bezos does not need a fifty-dollar food card. But we observed that with the 1920s-inspired gala last week. They just can’t seem to stop doing things that are strikingly disconnected.
“We’ve been through government closures before, and while obviously the White House bubble is always fairly insane, presidents are usually smart enough, they generally know not to display this type of stuff. But this government does not seem to care.”
The president’s lengthy speech on Thursday had the tone of a campaign event, with familiar criticisms for old political foes including the Democratic leader and California’s governor, and a fresh target: the recently voted-in progressive mayor of New York.
The former president discussed his financial policies, and praised a array of presenters from the worlds of politics, athletics and commerce that filled the multi-day schedule, organized largely by the local official to showcase south Florida and its investment opportunities.
The soccer superstar, the Argentinian soccer star and global champion, offered celebrity glitz from sporting circles, along with grand slam winners the Spanish player and the American athlete. A conversation between the Miami mayor and the Venezuelan opposition leader, the democracy activist who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was favorably viewed on the opening day.
Nevertheless overall it was a curious and unmistakably partisan gathering with a roster of Trump sycophants on the podium, loudly cheered by a audience of predominantly more youthful and wealthy supporters of the leader in the crowd, some blending business suits with his signature red Make America Great Again (Maga) caps.
In what other way to account for the attendance of the rightwing president of Argentina, the country whose shaky economy Trump supported last month with a $20bn currency swap? Or that of Saudi Arabians Fahad AlSaif, head of its massive Public Investment Fund, and Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Riyadh’s diplomatic envoy, touting their country as an opportunity while the Trump family’s financial ties and influence there come under increased examination?
Then there was the leader of world soccer’s governing body, suggesting that Trump is in line for the organization’s first award, a controversial honor that observers see established specifically for the president as consolation for his Nobel snub.
Additional participants, such as the chief executive of JP Morgan; the creator of WeWork; and the financial executive, have all in the past supported, worked with or voted for the former president, providing more than a suggestion of a politically skewed roster.
The city leader, unsurprisingly, saw it differently.
“We wanted it to be a kind of a cross-section from different verticals, right?” he told media.
“We got in a room. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ Individuals from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, different genders … sports, business, government, technology, things that touch everyone’s lives.”
He pointed to discussions of upcoming, lucrative major occasions in the city, encompassing the F1 race, next year’s G20 economic summit at a leisure property, and matches during the soccer tournament, which he called “a historic moment”.
“Our hope is that Miamians are transformed by the experience,” the official said. “We want them to leave thinking, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The representatives of State Voices Florida, on the other hand, contend numerous locals are concentrating right now on other issues, especially rising housing and food costs. Florida’s Republican governor declined a request from the group and others to issue an emergency over food assistance and tap state reserves to support urgent nutrition programs.
“Every civics teacher would tell you it’s his job to care for the residents of the state, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” Hannan said, observing the juxtaposition of a summit of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the same county in which nearly 25% of families depend on Snap benefits to get by.
“It appears to be this disconnection at the highest levels. I do not believe the solution is electing a liberal or selecting a conservative, I just think we have to have greater compassion for people who are struggling in this region.”
Empathy was in short supply in Miami from Trump, a leader not known for ever accepting blame during a crisis.
“Opposition lawmakers are causing millions of Americans who rely on food stamps to go without benefits,” he said, blaming the opposition political group for the federal closure.
“My desire is to have a country that’s prosperous once more. Is that acceptable?”
