Only Donald Trump could throw a party that looks like a scene from The Great Gatsby while millions of Americans’ food aid is vanishing. On Friday night, the President hosted a lavish “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. The event oozed 1920s opulence while 40 million low-income Americans wondered if they’d even be able to buy groceries.
The party’s theme borrowed from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of excess and inequality. Guests, reportedly dressed in flapper dresses and tuxedos, danced under chandeliers as the government struggled to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), aka food stamps. A NewsNation correspondent posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the night’s motto was lifted from the Gatsby soundtrack A Little Party Never Killed Nobody. Except this time, the metaphor was way too literal.
Donald Trump was seen mingling with guests in Mar-a-Lago’s $300 million ballroom, financed in part by billionaire donors and cryptocurrency moguls. At the same time, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled that his administration couldn’t halt food aid during the ongoing government shutdown. The BBC reported that two federal judges ordered the administration to use emergency funds to continue paying SNAP benefits after the USDA announced it would stop them in November, as “the well has run dry.”
Donald Trump is partying with his wealthy billionaire donor friends in Florida just hours before crucial programs like SNAP, Head Start, and more expire for millions of Americans. You do not hate him enough. pic.twitter.com/3aYzNrbb2X
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) November 1, 2025
For context, SNAP supports over 40 million Americans and provides an average of $715 a month to a family of four. So, just under $6 per person a day. Half the U.S. states sued the administration for weaponizing hunger during the partisan standoff. Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts called the government’s attempt to suspend food benefits a misreading of the law. She said the USDA must tap into its reserves. Meanwhile, Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island warned that “irreparable harm” had already begun. But champagne glasses clinked at Mar-a-Lago as Donald Trump smiled and looked around.
As photos and reports from the Florida estate spread, critics pounced. “The universe is serving up some heavy-handed metaphors,” one user quipped on X. Another remarked, “A little too on the money for (…) these selfish Gatsby goers.” A third chimed in, “Trump hosts Gatsby-themed Halloween party for his millionaire buddies as Americans across the country go hungry. Very on brand.” After all, Jay Gatsby’s story was about wealth without purpose and power without empathy. Fitzgerald himself once said, “I have never been able to forgive the rich for being rich.” For Donald Trump, though, the whole thing is just an aesthetic for a Halloween costume party.
LOOK! Donald Trump is having a fun night at his Mar-a-Lago country club attending a Gatsby themed party while 40M people are about to loose their food assistance tomorrow!
Does he care about anyone or himself and his billionaire buddies?
pic.twitter.com/eTfIyKHKPV
— Lucas Sanders 💙🗳️🌊💪🌈🚺🟧 (@LucasSa56947288) November 1, 2025
We are now in the second month of the government shutdown, which has stopped funding childcare and health subsidies. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Donald Trump’s spending cuts to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which could deprive 10.5 million Americans of coverage by 2034, have not been negotiated by Democrats. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the approximately $6 billion USDA contingency fund can only support roughly 60% of SNAP recipients for a single month.
Even if tapped, it’s only a temporary Band-Aid over a much deeper wound.
