This was the week in which Republicans experienced setbacks at the polls, the federal closure became the longest in history, and millions across the country, encompassing 3 million in Florida, experienced their nutrition assistance slashed.
However, in the alternative reality of the Magic City, where admission passes to an largely right-leaning corporate gathering fronted by the former president cost up to $1,990, and ultra-wealthy individuals from Saudi Arabia rubbed shoulders with equally wealthy American tycoons such as Jeff Bezos and the hedge fund manager, those developments created barely a ripple.
Conversely, in a gesture that seemed almost to mock the widening divide between the urban area's haves and have-nots, planners of the America Business Forum cooked up a small perk for attendees: a $50 voucher to spend on food to sustain themselves while they paid attention to their leader praise himself for a “golden age” he said his “economic miracle” had achieved.
Critics argue the action, along with the high-budget opulence of the event itself, was an poorly timed affront to more than a 500,000 local inhabitants who just saw their own capacity to buy basic food items for their families kiboshed by the reduction of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap).
“There exists a significant cognitive dissonance between what real people are experiencing, and the privileged,” said Larry Hannan, spokesperson of State Voices Florida, a alliance of more than a hundred non-aligned, democracy-focused and civic engagement organizations.
“Jeff Bezos does not need a $50 food card. But we observed that with the 1920s-inspired gala last week. They just can’t seem to stop doing things that are shockingly disconnected.
“We’ve been through government closures before, and while clearly the presidential environment is always somewhat unrealistic, presidents are usually astute enough, they generally know not to flaunt this type of stuff. But this administration does not seem to care.”
The president’s lengthy address on the event's second day had the flavor of a political rally, with familiar insults for old political foes such as the Democratic leader and the West Coast leader, and a new one: the newly elected democratic socialist NYC leader.
The former president discussed his financial policies, and lauded a array of presenters from the worlds of politics, athletics and business that populated the two-day schedule, created largely by the mayor of the city of Miami to showcase the region and its economic potential.
Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer star and global champion, offered celebrity glitz from the athletic world, along with grand slam winners Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. A discussion between the Miami mayor and the Venezuelan opposition leader, the democracy activist who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was favorably viewed on day one.
Yet overall it was a notable and clearly partisan gathering with a roster of supportive speakers on the stage, enthusiastically applauded by a crowd of mostly younger and wealthy supporters of the leader in the crowd, some blending business suits with his signature red MAGA caps.
How else to account for the attendance of the conservative South American leader, the nation whose unstable economy Trump helped shore up last month with a $20bn lifeline? Or that of Kingdom representatives the fund chief, head of its massive Public Investment Fund, and Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's diplomatic envoy, promoting their country as ripe for investment while the former first family's financial ties and influence there come under greater scrutiny?
Additionally there was the leader of Fifa, dropping hints that Trump is in line for the group's inaugural peace prize, an unwanted honor that observers see created specially for the leader as compensation for his prize rejection.
Other speakers, such as the CEO of the banking giant; the creator of WeWork; and the hedge-fund manager, have all in the past supported, collaborated with or backed Trump, providing more than a suggestion of a partisan lineup.
The city leader, unsurprisingly, saw it differently.
“Our aim was it to be a kind of a diverse representation from various sectors, right?” he told reporters.
“We convened. We said, ‘Hey, what are the leading voices?’ People from varied origins, different ethnicities, different genders … sports, commerce, politics, technology, things that impact daily life.”
He pointed to conversations of forthcoming, money-spinning major occasions in Miami, including the F1 race, next year’s global conference at a golf resort, and games during the soccer tournament, which he called “a historic moment”.
“Our hope is that local residents are transformed by the event,” the official said. “We want them to leave thinking, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The advocates of State Voices Florida, however, believe many locals are more focused right now on different concerns, especially rising real estate and food costs. The state's GOP leader declined a request from the organization and additional parties to issue an crisis over Snap benefits and utilize state reserves to support urgent nutrition programs.
“Any civics teacher would tell you it’s his responsibility to care for the people of Florida, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” the advocate said, observing the contrast of a conference of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the same county in which nearly one quarter of families rely on food stamps to survive.
“It appears to be this detachment at the top. I don’t think the solution is electing a liberal or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have more empathy for people who are facing difficulties in this region.”
Compassion was in short supply in Miami from the former president, a leader unrecognized for ever accepting blame during a crisis.
“Opposition lawmakers are causing countless of Americans who rely on nutritional aid to go without benefits,” he said, attributing fault to the out-of-office party for the government shutdown.
“I just want to have a country that’s prosperous once more. Is that OK?”
