President Donald Trump is facing heavy backlash for throwing a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween bash just hours before over 40 million Americans lost access to their SNAP benefits due to a lapse.
The former president hosted the extravagant celebration at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. The event drew inspiration from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, with the night’s official theme titled “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” — the name of a track from the 2013 movie’s soundtrack by Fergie, Q-Tip, and GoonRock.
Set in the roaring 1920s, The Great Gatsby famously highlights the moral decay and excesses of the wealthy — a theme echoed in the night’s glittering affair, where guests arrived dressed in glamorous, era-inspired costumes that perfectly captured the decadence of the Jazz Age.
The timing of President Trump’s extravagant celebration—built around the theme of wealth and abundance—sparked outrage, as it coincided with the moment millions of Americans lost access to their food assistance benefits.
Congress failed to reach an agreement to reopen the government before funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program expired on Nov. 1. Although a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to tap emergency funds to continue providing food aid through November, the directive wasn’t enough to stop the immediate disruption in benefits.
During his Halloween event, Trump took to social media to address the situation, writing, “I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible … even if we get immediate guidance, it will unfortunately be delayed while States get the money out. If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding.”
The following day, the same judge who issued the order publicly thanked Trump for his “quick and definitive response.”
