Outrage as Trump eyes ritzy Mar-a-Lago dinner while Americans struggle to afford groceries

President Donald Trump will soon be hosting a ritzy fundraiser even as many Americans say they’re still struggling to afford weekly groceries.

As flagged by New York Times reporter Teddy Schleifer, Trump on Friday is scheduled to have a fundraising dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort where attendees must pay $1 million each for the price of entry.

According to a Times report published last year on the planned fundraiser, the money raised from the dinner “will flow to a super PAC devoted to Mr. Trump, MAGA Inc., which has vacuumed up hundreds of millions of dollars since he was reelected last year.”

The Times noted that it’s unclear what Trump plans to do with the vast sums he’s raising since he is constitutionally ineligible to serve another term, although that hasn’t stopped him from saying he wants to run again in 2028.

The fundraiser is occurring as a new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is projecting that US consumers will get little relief from food prices in 2026.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service forecast for February 2026, “prices for all food are predicted to increase 3.1%” this year, “with a prediction interval of 0.7 to 5.7%.”

The USDA also projects that seven categories of food are project to see their prices increase faster this year than their 20-year historical average rate of growth: “Beef and veal, other meats, fish and seafood, processed fruits and vegetables, sugar and sweets, cereal and bakery products, and nonalcoholic beverages.”

Leor Tal, campaign director at Unrig Our Economy, said on Friday that Republican policies including Trump’s tariffs and cuts made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are exacerbating the affordability crisis for US families.

“Families are already struggling to put food on the table and, instead of relief, they’re getting hit with even higher costs because congressional Republicans continue to prioritize billionaires over working Americans,” said Tal. “Thanks to Republican-backed tariffs and devastating SNAP cuts, working Americans are not only facing higher food prices but millions of people are also losing the assistance they rely on to put food on the table.”

An Associated Press poll released last year found that 53% of Americans believe the cost of groceries is a “major source of stress,” which is higher than the percentage of Americans who say the same thing about the cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare.

Anxiety about grocery prices is particularly strong among Americans earning $30,000 or less per year, as nearly two-thirds of them described paying for groceries as a “major source of stress.”