This was the period in which GOP lawmakers experienced a beating at the ballot box, the government shutdown turned into the longest in history, and countless individuals across the country, encompassing three million residents in Florida, experienced their federal food aid reduced.
However, in the contrasting world of the Magic City, where tickets to an largely right-leaning business conference headlined by Donald Trump were priced up to $1,990, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia mingled with similarly wealthy American tycoons including Jeff Bezos and Ken Griffin, those developments generated barely a ripple.
Instead, in a gesture that seemed almost to highlight the widening divide between the urban area's affluent and less fortunate, organizers of the America Business Forum prepared a small perk for participants: a $50 gift card to spend on food to support themselves while they listened to their president praise himself for a “golden age” he said his “economic miracle” had delivered.
Advocates argue the action, along with the lavish extravagance of the conference itself, was an ill-timed insult to more than a 500,000 Miami-Dade county residents who just saw their own ability to buy basic food items for their families curtailed by the reduction of the federal food stamp program.
“There’s just a massive cognitive dissonance between what ordinary citizens are experiencing, and the privileged,” stated Larry Hannan, communications and policy director of a civic coalition, a alliance of over a 100 non-aligned, pro-democracy and civic engagement organizations.
“Jeff Bezos does not need a fifty-dollar meal voucher. But we observed that with the 1920s-inspired gala 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 White House bubble is always somewhat unrealistic, presidents are typically smart enough, they usually know not to display this type of stuff. But this government does not seem to care.”
The president’s hour-long address on the event's second day had the flavor of a political rally, with well-known criticisms for old political foes including the Senate minority leader and the West Coast leader, and a fresh target: the newly elected progressive mayor of New York.
Trump discussed his financial policies, and praised a array of presenters from the worlds of politics, athletics and business that filled the two-day schedule, created largely by the local official to showcase the region and its economic potential.
Lionel Messi, the Argentinian football icon and World Cup winner, provided celebrity glitz from sporting circles, along with grand slam winners the Spanish player and the American athlete. A discussion between the Miami mayor and the Venezuelan opposition leader, the democracy activist who last month received the Nobel peace prize, was well received on day one.
Yet overall it was a notable and unmistakably politically charged event with a roster of supportive speakers on the podium, enthusiastically applauded by a crowd of mostly younger and affluent backers of the president in the audience, some combining professional attire with his signature red MAGA caps.
In what other way to explain the presence of the rightwing South American leader, the country whose shaky financial system the US helped shore up last month with a $20bn currency swap? Or that of Kingdom representatives the fund chief, head of its massive sovereign wealth fund, and the ambassador, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US, promoting their country as an opportunity while the Trump family’s business connections and sway there come under increased examination?
Additionally there was the head of Fifa, suggesting that Trump is in line for the organization’s inaugural award, a controversial new award that commentators see created specifically for the president as compensation for his prize rejection.
Additional speakers, including the chief executive of the banking giant; the founder of the co-working firm; and the hedge-fund manager, have all previously praised, worked with or backed the former president, offering clear evidence of a partisan roster.
The Miami mayor, predictably, had a contrasting view.
“Our aim was it to be a sort of a cross-section from different verticals, right?” he told media.
“We convened. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ Individuals from different backgrounds, different ethnicities, all genders … athletics, commerce, politics, tech, things that impact daily life.”
He pointed to discussions of upcoming, lucrative notable events 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 official said. “We want them to leave thinking, ‘I can be on that stage.’”
The advocates of the civic group, on the other hand, contend numerous locals are concentrating right now on different concerns, especially rising housing and food costs. Florida’s GOP leader declined a call from the organization and others to declare an emergency over food assistance and utilize state reserves to support urgent nutrition programs.
“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his responsibility to care for the people of Florida, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” the advocate said, noting the juxtaposition of a conference of billionaires taking place in the same county in which almost 25% of families rely on Snap benefits to survive.
“There just seems to be this disconnection at the highest levels. I do not believe the solution is choosing a Democrat or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have greater compassion for people who are facing difficulties in this region.”
Empathy was in short supply in Miami from Trump, a leader unrecognized for ever accepting blame during a crisis.
“The radical left Democrats are causing millions of citizens who depend on food stamps to go without support,” he said, attributing fault to the out-of-office political group for the federal closure.
“I just want to have a country that’s prosperous once more. Is that acceptable?”
