It was the period in which Republicans suffered setbacks at the ballot box, the government shutdown became the longest in history, and countless individuals throughout the country, including three million residents in Florida, experienced their federal food aid reduced.
Yet, in the contrasting world of Miami, where tickets to an overwhelmingly right-leaning corporate gathering fronted by Donald Trump were priced up to nearly two thousand dollars, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia rubbed shoulders with equally affluent US magnates such as Jeff Bezos and the hedge fund manager, those developments generated barely a ripple.
Instead, in a gesture that appeared almost to mock the growing divide between the urban area's affluent and have-nots, planners of the corporate summit cooked up a small perk for participants: a fifty-dollar voucher to use on meals to support themselves while they listened to their president congratulate himself for a “golden age” he said his financial success had achieved.
Advocates argue the action, along with the lavish extravagance of the event itself, was an ill-timed affront to more than a 500,000 Miami-Dade county residents who just saw their own capacity to buy essential groceries 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 going through, and the elite,” said Larry Hannan, spokesperson of a civic coalition, a alliance of over a hundred non-aligned, pro-democracy and community involvement organizations.
“Jeff Bezos hardly requires a $50 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 shockingly disconnected.
“We have experienced government closures before, and while obviously the presidential environment is always somewhat unrealistic, leaders are typically smart enough, they usually know not to display this kind of behavior. But this administration does not appear concerned.”
The president’s lengthy speech on the event's second day had the flavor of a campaign event, with well-known insults for longtime adversaries including the Democratic leader and the West Coast leader, and a new one: the newly elected democratic socialist mayor of New York.
Trump touched on his economic agenda, and praised a host of presenters from the worlds of politics, sport and commerce that populated the two-day agenda, created largely by the mayor of the city of Miami to showcase south Florida and its economic potential.
Lionel Messi, the Argentinian football icon and global champion, provided celebrity glitz from the athletic world, along with grand slam winners Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. A discussion between the Miami mayor and the Nobel laureate, the political figure who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was well received on day one.
Nevertheless overall it was a notable and clearly partisan gathering with a roster of supportive speakers on the stage, loudly cheered by a crowd of predominantly younger and affluent backers of the leader in the audience, some combining professional attire with his trademark red Make America Great Again (Maga) caps.
How else to account for the attendance of the rightwing president of Argentina, the nation whose unstable financial system Trump helped shore up last month with a twenty-billion-dollar currency swap? Or that of Saudi Arabians Fahad AlSaif, head of its $925bn sovereign wealth fund, and the ambassador, Riyadh’s diplomatic envoy, promoting their country as ripe for investment while the Trump family’s financial ties and sway there face greater scrutiny?
Additionally there was the leader of world soccer’s governing body, suggesting that Trump is in line for the organization’s first peace prize, a controversial honor that observers see established specifically for the leader as compensation for his prize rejection.
Other participants, including the chief executive of JP Morgan; the founder of the co-working firm; and the hedge-fund manager, have all previously supported, collaborated with or voted for the former president, providing clear evidence of a partisan roster.
The Miami mayor, predictably, saw it differently.
“Our aim was it to be a sort of a cross-section from various sectors, right?” he told reporters.
“We convened. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ Individuals from varied origins, different ethnicities, all genders … athletics, commerce, government, technology, things that touch everyone’s lives.”
He highlighted discussions of forthcoming, money-spinning notable events 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 generational opportunity”.
“The intention is that Miamians are inspired by the experience,” the mayor said. “We want them to leave believing, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The representatives of the civic group, however, contend many locals are more focused right now on different concerns, particularly rising housing and grocery prices. Florida’s Republican governor rejected a request from the organization and others to declare an emergency over food assistance and utilize state reserves to fund urgent food distribution.
“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his job to care for the residents of the state, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” the advocate said, noting the contrast of a conference of billionaires taking place in the identical region in which almost 25% of families depend on food stamps to get by.
“It appears to be this detachment at the top. I do not believe the solution is electing a Democrat or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have more empathy for individuals who are facing difficulties in this region.”
Empathy was in limited quantity in Miami from the former president, a leader not known for ever accepting blame during a crisis.
“The radical left Democrats are causing millions of citizens who rely on food stamps to go without benefits,” he said, attributing fault to the opposition party for the government shutdown.
“My desire is to have a country that’s great again. Is that OK?”
