Trump Throws Great Gatsby-Themed Halloween Bash Amid Looming Food Assistance Crisis
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
President Donald Trump held a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Friday, just a few hours before funding for federal food assistance for millions of low-income Americans was set to lapse.
Associated Press White House Correspondent Danny Kemp posted a photo from the party, showing guests decked out in Roaring ’20s attire. The photo features Trump dressed in regular 2020s attire.
“Trump and Rubio at the Mar-a-Lago Halloween Party, on day 31 of the shutdown,” Kemp tweeted. “Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.” The photo shows Trump sitting at a table with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
NewsNation White House Correspondent Kellie Meyer posted a brief video of the president smiling while speaking with a guest.
Just hours before, Trump boasted that he renovated the bathroom in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House.
“I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House,” he announced. “It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era. I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”
Trump’s Halloween bash comes amid the ongoing government shutdown, which entered its second month on Saturday.
The government partially shut down on Oct. 1 after the Senate failed to pass a Republican-sponsored funding bill to keep the government open. Although Republicans control the chamber 53-47, 60 votes are needed to overcome a procedural hurdle to advance the legislation. Democrats said they won’t support any funding bill unless it contains an extension of healthcare premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are slated to expire on Dec. 31.
Additionally, recipients of food assistance under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are slated to see those benefits lapse Saturday, Nov. 1. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, said that funding will run out on that day. On Friday, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funds to keep SNAP afloat. Trump responded on Truth Social, suggesting that he would do so, as long as the judges instructed his administration on how to proceed.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 41.7 million Americans across 22 million households received monthly food assistance in 2024.
The status of SNAP remains unclear at this time.
Trump is also completely overhauling the White House’s East Wing, which he demolished to make space for a ballroom. The project, which Trump estimated to cost more than $300 million, is reportedly being paid for by wealthy donors.
