It was the week in which Republicans suffered a beating at the ballot box, the government shutdown turned into the most extended in US history, and millions across the country, including three million residents in Florida, experienced their nutrition assistance slashed.
However, in the contrasting world of the Magic City, where admission passes to an overwhelmingly conservative business conference headlined by the former president cost up to $1,990, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia mingled with similarly wealthy US magnates including the Amazon founder and Ken Griffin, those events generated barely a ripple.
Instead, in a move that seemed almost to highlight the growing disparity between the urban area's affluent and have-nots, organizers of the America Business Forum cooked up a small perk for attendees: a $50 gift card to use on food to sustain themselves while they listened to their leader congratulate himself for a era of prosperity he said his “economic miracle” had delivered.
Critics argue the move, along with the high-budget opulence of the conference itself, was an ill-timed affront to more than a 500,000 local inhabitants who just saw their own capacity to buy essential groceries for their families curtailed by the gutting of the federal food stamp program.
“There exists a significant disconnect between what ordinary citizens are experiencing, and the privileged,” stated a policy director, spokesperson of a civic coalition, a alliance of more than a hundred non-partisan, pro-democracy and civic engagement groups.
“Jeff Bezos does not need a fifty-dollar food card. But we saw that with the Great Gatsby theme party last week. They just appear unable to stop engaging in things that are strikingly disconnected.
“We’ve been through shutdowns before, and while clearly the presidential environment is always fairly insane, leaders are typically smart enough, they usually know not to display this type of stuff. But this administration does not seem to care.”
The president’s hour-long address on Thursday had the flavor of a political rally, with well-known 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.
Trump discussed his economic agenda, and lauded a host of presenters from the realms of politics, sport and business that filled the two-day schedule, organized primarily by the local official to showcase south Florida and its economic potential.
The soccer superstar, the Argentinian soccer star and World Cup winner, offered star power from the athletic world, along with tennis champions Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. A conversation between the city leader and the Nobel laureate, the democracy activist who last month received the prestigious award, was well received on the opening day.
Yet overall it was a notable and unmistakably politically charged event with a field of supportive speakers on the podium, loudly cheered by a crowd of mostly younger and affluent supporters of the leader in the audience, some blending business suits with his signature red Make America Great Again (Maga) caps.
In what other way to explain the presence of the rightwing president of Argentina, the country whose shaky economy the US supported last month with a $20bn currency swap? Or that of Kingdom representatives the fund chief, head of its massive Public Investment Fund, and Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, touting their country as ripe for investment while the Trump family’s business connections and influence there come under greater scrutiny?
Then there was the leader of world soccer’s governing body, suggesting that Trump is being considered for the group's first peace prize, an unwanted honor that observers see established specially for the leader as compensation for his Nobel snub.
Additional participants, such as the CEO of JP Morgan; the creator of WeWork; and the hedge-fund manager, have all previously praised, collaborated with or backed the former president, providing more than a suggestion of a partisan roster.
The Miami mayor, unsurprisingly, had a contrasting view.
“Our aim was it to be a sort of a diverse representation from different verticals, right?” he told media.
“We got in a room. We said, ‘Hey, what are the leading voices?’ Individuals from varied origins, various heritages, all genders … athletics, business, government, tech, things that touch everyone’s lives.”
He highlighted discussions of forthcoming, lucrative major occasions in Miami, including the Formula One grand prix, next year’s G20 economic summit at a leisure property, and games during the soccer tournament, which he called “a historic moment”.
“The intention is that Miamians are transformed by the experience,” the mayor said. “We want them to leave thinking, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The advocates of State Voices Florida, on the other hand, believe many Miamians are concentrating right now on other issues, particularly soaring housing and grocery prices. The state's GOP leader declined a request from the organization and others to issue an emergency over Snap benefits and utilize state reserves to fund immediate nutrition programs.
“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his job to care for the residents of the state, and he’s doing the reverse,” Hannan said, observing the contrast of a conference of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the identical region in which nearly one quarter of households depend on Snap benefits to survive.
“There just seems to be this disconnection at the highest levels. I do not believe the answer is electing a Democrat or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have more empathy for people who are struggling in this state.”
Empathy was in short supply in the city from the former president, a president unrecognized for ever accepting blame during a crisis.
“The radical left Democrats are causing countless of Americans who rely on food stamps to go without support,” he said, attributing fault to the out-of-office party for the government shutdown.
“I just want to have a nation that’s great again. Is that acceptable?”
