President Donald Trump hosted a 1920’s theme party at Mar-A-Lago on Oct. 31, as multiple federal judges ruled the administration could not stop funding food aid amid the ongoing government shutdown.
The party was labeled “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” according to multiple media attendees. The title was drawn from a song on the soundtrack of the 2013 movie adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.”
Attendees included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ivanka and Tiffany Trump, and their husbands, Jared Kushner and Michael Boulos, according to ABC News. Trump did not speak while reporters were present, the network reported.
Guests were seen mimicking “Roaring 20’s” era attire, a period just before the Great Depression that historians note for its staggering income inequity. History.com notes that in 1928 the top 1% of families received 23.9% of all pretax income and about 60% of families made less than the income level the Bureau of Labor Statistics classified as the minimum livable income for a family of five.
The party in the midst of an extended federal government shutdown drew sharp criticism from Democrats, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom saying on social media that Trump “does not give a damn about you.”
“The way he rubs his inhumanity in Americans” (sic) face never ceases to stun me,” Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said on X. “He’s illegally refusing to pay food stamp benefits… …while he throws a ridiculously over the top Gatsby party for his right wing millionaire and corporate friends.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly called Democrats “full of it” in a statement ABC News. “President Trump has consistently called on them to do the right thing and reopen the government, which they could do at any time,” Kelly said.
SNAP benefits ordered to restart
Judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island issued orders within minutes of each other on Oct. 31 that compelled the department to use $5.25 billion in contingency funds to continue the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” U.S. District Judge John McConnell ruled in Rhode Island.
SNAP benefits for 42 million low-income Americans were set to run out Nov. 1. However, the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the National Council of Nonprofits and several other nonprofits and mayors filed a federal lawsuit to keep the program running.
Justice Department lawyers have argued it isn’t possible to provide partial benefits for the program, which spends up to $9 billion per month, from a $5 billion contingency fund.
Massachusetts Federal District Judge Indira Talwani ruled against that argument, saying that the government has the option to provide reduced benefits with the contingency funds or shift other discretionary funds to cover the shortfall.
In a brief written order, McConnell told the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use contingency funds to continue providing benefits. He asked the government to report by noon on Nov. 3 about the status of the distribution.
“For now, these families can continue putting food on their tables, and thousands of nonprofit food banks, pantries and other organizations across the country can avoid the impossible burden that would have resulted if SNAP benefits had been halted,” said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits.
Trump claimed on Truth Social that the government would provide SNAP funding if given “appropriate legal direction by the Court.”
