This was the week in which GOP lawmakers experienced a beating at the ballot box, the federal closure became the most extended in history, and millions across the nation, including three million residents in Florida, experienced their nutrition assistance reduced.
Yet, in the alternative reality of Miami, where tickets to an overwhelmingly conservative business conference fronted by the former president cost up to $1,990, and ultra-wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia mingled with equally affluent American tycoons including the Amazon founder and the hedge fund manager, those developments created scarcely any reaction.
Instead, in a gesture that appeared almost to highlight the growing divide between the urban area's affluent and have-nots, planners of the America Business Forum prepared a small perk for attendees: a $50 gift card to spend on meals to sustain themselves while they paid attention to their president congratulate himself for a era of prosperity he said his financial success had delivered.
Advocates argue the action, along with the high-budget opulence of the conference itself, was an poorly timed insult to more than a half-million local inhabitants who just saw their own ability to buy essential groceries for their families curtailed by the reduction of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap).
“There’s just a massive disconnect between what ordinary citizens are experiencing, and the elite,” stated Larry Hannan, communications and policy director of a civic coalition, a alliance of over a hundred non-aligned, pro-democracy and community involvement groups.
“Jeff Bezos 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 doing things that are strikingly out of touch.
“We’ve been through shutdowns before, and while clearly the presidential environment is always somewhat 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 leader's hour-long address on the event's second day had the flavor of a campaign event, with well-known insults for old political foes such as the Senate minority leader and the West Coast leader, and a fresh target: the recently voted-in democratic socialist NYC leader.
The former president discussed his financial policies, and lauded a array of speakers from the realms of politics, sport and commerce that filled the two-day schedule, created primarily by the local official to showcase the region and its economic potential.
The soccer superstar, the Argentina football icon and World Cup winner, provided celebrity glitz from sporting circles, along with tennis champions the Spanish player and Serena Williams. A discussion between the city leader and the Nobel laureate, the political figure who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was well received on the opening day.
Yet in general it was a notable and unmistakably politically charged event with a field of supportive speakers on the stage, enthusiastically applauded by a crowd of mostly more youthful and wealthy backers of the president in the audience, some combining business suits with his signature red MAGA caps.
How else to account for the presence of the conservative president of Argentina, the country whose unstable economy Trump supported last month with a twenty-billion-dollar currency swap? Or that of Saudi Arabians Fahad AlSaif, head of its $925bn Public Investment Fund, and the ambassador, Riyadh’s ambassador to the US, touting their country as ripe for investment while the former first family's financial ties and sway there face greater scrutiny?
Then there was the head of Fifa, dropping hints that the former president is being considered for the organization’s first peace prize, an unwanted honor that observers see established specially for the president as compensation for his Nobel snub.
Other speakers, such as the CEO of the banking giant; the creator of WeWork; and the financial executive, have all previously supported, worked with or backed Trump, offering clear evidence of a partisan roster.
The city leader, unsurprisingly, saw it differently.
“We wanted it to be a kind of a diverse representation from different verticals, right?” he told media.
“We got in a room. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ People from different backgrounds, various heritages, different genders … sports, business, government, technology, things that touch everyone’s lives.”
He highlighted conversations of upcoming, lucrative notable events in Miami, including the Formula One grand prix, next year’s G20 economic summit at a golf resort, and matches during the soccer tournament, which he called “a generational opportunity”.
“The intention is that Miamians are transformed by the event,” the mayor said. “We want them to leave thinking, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The representatives of the civic group, however, believe numerous locals are more focused right now on different concerns, particularly soaring housing and grocery prices. Florida’s GOP leader declined a call from the group and additional parties to issue an emergency over Snap benefits and tap state reserves to fund urgent food distribution.
“Any civics teacher would tell you it’s his responsibility to care for the people of Florida, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” Hannan said, observing the contrast of a conference of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the identical region in which nearly 25% of households rely on Snap benefits to get by.
“It appears to be this detachment at the highest levels. I don’t think the answer is electing a liberal or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have greater compassion for individuals who are facing difficulties in this state.”
Empathy was in limited quantity in Miami from the former president, a president unrecognized for ever taking responsibility during a difficult period.
“Opposition lawmakers are causing countless of Americans who depend on nutritional aid to go without support,” he said, attributing fault to the opposition political group for the government shutdown.
“I just want to have a nation that’s prosperous once more. Is that OK?”
