As millions of Americans braced for the expiration of federal food stamp funding, President Donald J. Trump was busy raising a glass—of champagne, that is—at a glittering, Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The opulent event featured burlesque dancers, floating beach balls in the pool, and a woman reclining inside a giant martini glass—all while nearly 1 in 8 Americans faced the loss of their SNAP benefits.
“This is what Trumpism looks like in 2025,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL). “Decadence at Mar-a-Lago while families in my district line up at food banks.”
The president, donning a vintage tuxedo, was photographed mingling with administration loyalists and MAGA celebrities. Among them: Sen. Marco Rubio, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, and a handful of right-wing influencers and megadonors dressed to the nines in Roaring Twenties regalia.
Professional images from the scene, posted across Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), showed extravagant desserts, 1920s chandeliers, and Trump himself smiling beneath a portrait of his slimmer, younger self.
“It was like watching The Hunger Games in real time,” one anonymous former White House staffer told us. “They’re toasting with champagne while the rest of the country can’t afford groceries.”
A particularly viral video—posted by political watchdog account PatriotTakes—showed scantily clad dancers waving feather fans as a jazz band played for a mostly maskless crowd. Nearby, waiters circulated with towers of macaroons, exotic hors d’oeuvres, and vintage cocktails.
Another clip shared by MeidasTouch captured Trump laughing with guests as silver-and-gold pool floats bobbed under LED party lights.
One partygoer, reportedly a Florida GOP donor, was heard saying, “This is how we roll now. America’s back, baby!” The comment has since been mocked across social media, with critics using it to underscore the widening wealth gap under Trump’s second term.
The spectacle unfolded just hours before Congress failed to reach a deal to extend funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—jeopardizing access to food for more than 42 million low-income Americans.
The deadline had been looming for weeks, following Trump’s July executive order slashing $186 million from the program’s budget. Yet the administration remained defiant.
When asked about the timing of the party, Trump campaign spokesperson Brittany Holt simply said, “The president was celebrating American prosperity.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom wasted no time reacting. “Donald Trump hosted a Great Gatsby party while SNAP benefits were about to disappear for 42 million Americans,” he wrote on X Saturday morning. “He does not give a damn about you.”
Newsom’s post was quickly amplified by progressive lawmakers including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Raphael Warnock, who called the event “a grotesque tribute to the 1%.”
Outside the gates of Mar-a-Lago on Saturday morning, about two dozen protestors gathered holding signs reading “Bread, Not Ballrooms” and “Feast for the Few, Famine for the Rest.”
Meanwhile, GOP allies of the president dismissed the criticism. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told reporters, “Maybe if people stopped smoking crack, they wouldn’t need food stamps.” The congressman’s remark sparked fierce backlash and calls for censure.
Critics were quick to compare the Gatsby bash to scenes of excess from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel that inspired it—an iconic tale of hollow wealth, moral decline, and economic divide.
“They couldn’t have picked a more tone-deaf theme if they tried,” said cultural historian Dr. Alana Williams. “The book is a critique of everything Trump represents. Either they’ve never read it—or they just don’t care.”
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Why should we feed people in this country Illegal????????????????? Let states help them they want illegals???????
You are sick……..
I agree
Legal citizens need to eat!
Yes, and why the Dems need to get off their @$$ and pass then CR!
It’s the democrats refusing to bargain to open the government.
As far as I am concerned, I don’t want one penny of medical aid
or one morsel of food to go to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS! We have spent
enough billions on them. Time to take care of our own.
Carol I only hope that your family never goes hungry because you certainly wouldn’t care. You forget that the only true citizens of this country
are the American Indians.
In my youth I did know what it was like to go hungry, living with a bad alcoholic father and a crazy mother.
When I became a mother, I would have starved myself to feed my child . . . and welfare would have been a last resort, not a way of life. Anyone who enters this country illegally has no claim whatsoever on any freebies!
Agreed
Were we separated at birth? I remember having one meal some days. Other days maybe two.
I told Mother Dear many times we had nothing for school lunch – she told me to “figure it out” myself.
NO free school lunches for me – I ate breakfast and dinner, maybe. So I feel the same as you.
So true – so often forgotten .
No, not true! The American Indians were conquered…. I am so sick of hearing that nonsense! They were also nomads who migrated here! People who say that nonsense act like they simply miraculously appeared here on this continent as though they were never anywhere else and just always here! Horse 💩💩!!
I agree with Carol
I agree Carol
They want to blame someone, blame the stupid ignorant commi Dems. 42 million ppl on food stamps THAT IS WAY TO MUCH! I would like to see a study of ALL on gov assistance by race, Economic background, and party affiliation. They will show the ones we need to deport.
I agree
Unless some want to go hungry, most of USA has more than enough to eat. As far as I know, no body around me living in my neighborhood go hungry. We do have christian organizations, perhaps even non Christian organizations, do feed the hungry. Still it is possible, that some people go hungry. Americans and Europeans, based on their Christian heritage, try to see that no one go hungry. Some families, some organizations, do have occasional parties. It is very mean to criticize such parties. David.
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Why are they blaming Trump? He doesn’t collect a pay check. The Dems are taking their pay checks cause, “they have bills to pay.’ Maybe citizens complaining about Trump should go to their Dems house, that they voted for, and ask for dinner,
Dems are holding every thing up. Fighting for illegals
Thank the Dems, don\’t BS!
It was a Freakin’ Halloween Party you imbeciles! And he is waiting on the idiot Dems in the Senate to get off their @$$ and vote to pass the CR to open the government… Until THEY DO, there is not much more he can do! All you libs keep screaming he is overstepping his authority and then you scream when he doesn’t ! You cannot have it both ways!
Who paid for his big party? Who was invited? Only the rich minions, the people who see him as a God.
Many people work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet. They get their children’s cloths at Salvation Army. But, still need help with groceries.
The party people never had to worry about that. Maybe if they were to try and go hungry, they would look at things differently. They have to remember, how did they become so rich!
Try wearing someone else’s shoes and then think it over.
Who freakin’ cares? It’s none of our business! It was a private party at Mara-La-Go…. Nobody thinks the guy is a god! That is a fantasy the media and the left has made up. You all are obsessed with it…. Those who voted for him like his policies, they don’t think he is any kind of god! You are delusional !
You know what! Stop blaming the rich for your problems! I have been rich and I have been poor! Both situations were my doing! Nobody to blame, nobody else to give credit! Sometimes things went my way, sometimes they didn’t! But I never blamed the rich guy when things didn’t go my way! It wasn’t their fault, it was mine! Start taking responsibility for your own actions and things might work out differently for you! But with your attitude, not likely!
His money, his property, his guest…..end of story{
Forget Trump! We need to remember to feed the hungry, help the sick by allowing them to seek treatments whether they’re from Istanbul or wherever. They are humans just like you and me. So help us God.
Illegal aliens who forced their way into this country (with Biden’s blessing), IMHO are sub-human at best with
no respect for our laws. How may of our citizens have they raped, murdered, etc. Do you have any idea how many countries would have shot them dead? And some of those “civilized” countries will surprise you. Look it up!
No one ever complained about democrats big parties in their vineyards, like Pelosi’s. How about all the things we actually paid for with democrats living style when in office.
He pays for his own party’s and still takes no paycheck.
As far as illegals go I don’t want any money of mine or have to pay for another ones freebies. Years ago under Obama I went to ask help for snap I was refused caused my name wasn’t Martinez. True that is what they told me. I bettered myself from there on out. Did you know that up until Obama left office if you worked you actually took care of five on snap.
Over the years all increases have been because of illegals. I just learned when I retire in five years that I might have any retirement because it was giving to illegals.
I agree we need to audit anyone on government money of any kind. After seeing all the abuse and fraud since January 20th, there are people who have lived off our backs when very capable of working.
Where I live the illegals dressed in major brands, wore diamonds and gold, ate steaks regularly, drove really expensive cars and took trips all over all the time. Yet get to grocery store and they all had snap, cash in hundred dollar bills, got rent paid for. While our senior citizens had to choose between food or medication and they never got help. So I have good reason to be bitter over illegals and freeloaders in my country just to keep democrats in office. Look at now they can’t get healthcare free for illegals so shut down government. Did you ever get free healthcare ever. Never American citizens who actually needed it but they fight for illegals.
Church’s seemed beholden to illegals let them feed and pay for their living and healthcare. I never got free rent, free groceries or free anything from the government I paid into every week with my paychecks. My fellow Americans need help I am all in but not freeloaders who pop out babies every year or play games all day in mommies basement or just to lazy to work. Middle class has done enough for this country and we are the ones who have been screwed by democrats the most.
With the government shut down and so many peop