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This was the week in which GOP lawmakers experienced setbacks at the polls, the government shutdown turned into the most extended in US history, and millions across the nation, encompassing 3 million in Florida, experienced their federal food aid reduced.

However, in the contrasting world of the Magic City, where admission passes to an largely conservative business conference headlined by Donald Trump were priced up to nearly two thousand dollars, and billionaires from Saudi Arabia rubbed shoulders with similarly affluent US magnates such as Jeff Bezos and Ken Griffin, those developments created barely a ripple.

Conversely, in a gesture that appeared almost to mock the widening disparity between the city’s haves and less fortunate, planners of the America Business Forum prepared a small perk for participants: a fifty-dollar voucher to use on meals to sustain themselves while they listened to their president praise himself for a “golden age” he said his “economic miracle” had delivered.

Advocates say the action, along with the high-budget extravagance of the conference itself, was an poorly timed insult to over a 500,000 local inhabitants who just saw their own capacity to buy essential groceries for their families curtailed by the reduction of the federal food stamp program.

“There’s just a massive disconnect between what ordinary citizens are experiencing, and the privileged,” said Larry Hannan, spokesperson of a civic coalition, a alliance of more than a hundred non-partisan, democracy-focused and civic engagement groups.

“Jeff Bezos hardly requires a fifty-dollar meal voucher. But we observed that with the Great Gatsby theme party last week. They just can’t seem to stop engaging in things that are strikingly disconnected.

“We have experienced shutdowns before, and while clearly the White House bubble is always fairly insane, leaders are typically astute enough, they usually know not to flaunt this type of stuff. But this administration does not appear concerned.”

The leader's hour-long speech on the event's second day had the tone of a political rally, with well-known criticisms for longtime adversaries including the Senate minority leader and California’s governor, and a new one: the recently voted-in democratic socialist mayor of New York.

The former president touched on his economic agenda, and lauded a array of speakers from the worlds of politics, sport and commerce that populated the multi-day schedule, organized largely by the local official to highlight the region and its economic potential.

Lionel Messi, the Argentinian soccer star and World Cup winner, provided celebrity glitz from sporting circles, along with grand slam winners Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. A conversation between the city leader and the Nobel laureate, the political figure who last month received the prestigious award, was favorably viewed on day one.

Yet overall it was a curious and clearly partisan event with a roster of Trump sycophants on the podium, loudly cheered by a crowd of predominantly more youthful and wealthy backers of the president in the audience, some blending business suits with his signature red MAGA caps.

How else to account for the presence of the rightwing president of Argentina, the country whose unstable economy the US helped shore up last month with a twenty-billion-dollar lifeline? Or that of Kingdom representatives Fahad AlSaif, head of its $925bn sovereign wealth fund, and Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia's diplomatic envoy, promoting their country as an opportunity while the former first family's financial ties and influence there come under increased examination?

Then there was the leader of Fifa, suggesting that Trump is being considered for the organization’s inaugural peace prize, a controversial honor that commentators see created specially for the president as consolation for his prize rejection.

Additional participants, including the chief executive of JP Morgan; the creator of WeWork; and the financial executive, have all in the past supported, worked with or voted for the former president, providing more than a suggestion of a partisan roster.

The Miami mayor, predictably, saw it differently.

“Our aim was it to be a sort of a cross-section from various sectors, right?” he told media.

“We got in a room. We said, ‘Hey, what are the prominent figures?’ Individuals from varied origins, various heritages, different genders … sports, business, government, tech, things that impact daily life.”

He highlighted conversations of forthcoming, money-spinning major occasions in Miami, encompassing 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 generational opportunity”.

“Our hope is that local residents are inspired by the experience,” the official said. “We want them to leave believing, ‘I can be on that stage.’”

The advocates of State Voices Florida, however, believe numerous Miamians are concentrating right now on other issues, especially soaring real estate and grocery prices. The state's Republican governor rejected a request from the group and additional parties to declare an crisis over Snap benefits and tap public funds to support immediate nutrition programs.

“Any social studies instructor would tell you it’s his responsibility to look after the residents of Florida, and he’s doing the exact opposite,” Hannan said, observing the contrast of a summit of ultra-wealthy individuals taking place in the same county in which almost 25% of households depend on Snap benefits to get by.

“There just seems to be this disconnection at the highest levels. I don’t think the solution is electing a liberal or electing a conservative, I just think we have to have greater compassion for individuals who are struggling in this region.”

Empathy was in short supply in Miami from the former president, a leader not known for ever accepting blame during a difficult period.

“Opposition lawmakers are causing countless of citizens who depend on nutritional aid to go without support,” he said, blaming the opposition party for the government shutdown.

“My desire is to have a nation that’s great again. Is that OK?”