This was the period in which GOP lawmakers experienced a beating at the ballot box, the government shutdown became the most extended in history, and millions across the nation, encompassing 3 million in Florida, experienced their federal food aid reduced.
Yet, in the alternative reality of Miami, where admission passes to an overwhelmingly conservative business conference headlined by the former president cost up to $1,990, and ultra-wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia mingled with similarly affluent US magnates such as the Amazon founder and Ken Griffin, those developments generated scarcely any reaction.
Instead, in a gesture that appeared almost to mock the widening disparity between the urban area's affluent and less fortunate, organizers of the corporate summit prepared a small perk for attendees: a fifty-dollar gift card to use on food to support themselves while they listened to their leader congratulate himself for a era of prosperity he said his financial success had achieved.
Critics argue the move, along with the high-budget opulence of the conference itself, was an poorly timed insult to more than a half-million Miami-Dade county residents who just saw their own ability to buy basic food items for their families kiboshed by the gutting of the federal food stamp program.
“There exists a significant disconnect between what ordinary citizens are going through, and the elite,” said Larry Hannan, communications and policy director of State Voices Florida, a coalition of over a hundred non-partisan, pro-democracy and community involvement groups.
“The Amazon founder hardly requires a $50 food card. But we saw that with the Great Gatsby theme party last week. They just can’t seem to stop engaging in things that are shockingly out of touch.
“We’ve been through shutdowns before, and while obviously the presidential environment is always somewhat unrealistic, leaders are usually astute enough, they usually know not to flaunt this kind of behavior. But this administration does not seem to care.”
The president’s lengthy speech on the event's second day had the flavor of a campaign event, with well-known criticisms for old political foes including the Democratic leader and California’s governor, and a new one: the recently voted-in democratic socialist mayor of New York.
Trump touched on his economic agenda, and praised a array of presenters from the realms of politics, sport and commerce that populated the two-day schedule, created largely by the mayor of the city of Miami to highlight south Florida and its investment opportunities.
The soccer superstar, the Argentinian soccer star and World Cup winner, provided celebrity glitz from sporting circles, along with tennis champions Rafael Nadal and the American athlete. A conversation between the Miami mayor and the Venezuelan opposition leader, the political figure who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was favorably viewed on day one.
Nevertheless overall it was a curious and clearly politically charged gathering with a roster of Trump sycophants on the stage, loudly cheered by a crowd of mostly younger and wealthy supporters of the president in the audience, some blending business suits with his trademark red Make America Great Again (Maga) caps.
In what other way to explain the presence of the rightwing president of Argentina, the country whose unstable economy Trump helped shore up last month with a twenty-billion-dollar currency swap? Or that of Kingdom representatives Fahad AlSaif, head of its $925bn Public Investment Fund, and Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, touting their nation as an opportunity while the Trump family’s financial ties and sway there face increased examination?
Additionally there was the head of Fifa, dropping hints that Trump is in line for the organization’s inaugural peace prize, an unwanted honor that observers see established specially for the leader as compensation for his Nobel snub.
Other participants, including the chief executive of the banking giant; the founder of WeWork; and the financial executive, have all in the past supported, worked with or voted for Trump, providing more than a suggestion of a partisan lineup.
The Miami mayor, predictably, saw it differently.
“Our aim was it to be a sort of a diverse representation from different verticals, right?” he explained to media.
“We convened. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ Individuals from varied origins, different ethnicities, different genders … sports, business, politics, tech, things that touch everyone’s lives.”
He highlighted conversations of upcoming, money-spinning notable events in the city, including the F1 race, 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 inspired by the event,” the mayor said. “We want them to leave believing, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The representatives of State Voices Florida, however, believe many Miamians are more focused right now on other issues, particularly soaring real estate and grocery prices. The state's Republican governor rejected a request from the organization and others to declare an emergency over Snap benefits and tap public funds to fund urgent nutrition programs.
“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his job to care for the residents of Florida, 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 families depend on food stamps to get by.
“It appears to be this disconnection at the highest levels. I don’t think the solution is electing a liberal or electing a Republican, 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 accepting blame during a difficult period.
“The radical left Democrats are resulting in millions of citizens who rely on nutritional aid to go without support,” he said, attributing fault to the out-of-office political group for the government shutdown.
“I just want to have a country that’s great again. Is that acceptable?”
