Florida spent $2.75 MILLION renaming an airport for Trump while 247,000 kids lost food stamps, and food banks are seeing longer lines than they've seen in DECADES.
Florida's $2.75 million pays for new signs, uniforms, rebranded vehicles and new overhead announcements at Palm Beach International, which became President Donald J. Trump International Airport on July 9. Its airport code is now DJT.
Ron DeSantis signed the renaming in March after it passed on party-line votes, 81-30 in the House and 25-11 in the Senate. Senate Republicans blocked an amendment from Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones that would have stopped Trump from profiting off the airport's name.
In June, DeSantis signed a $117.6 billion budget, vetoed $1.6 billion, and said he had prioritized "things that we have to have." The airport money stayed in, even as state officials warned that federal cuts threatened the SNAP program's ability to operate.
Between July 2025 and July 2026, 648,000 Floridians fell off SNAP. Their families didn't suddenly get richer. Requests for public assistance in Florida went up 15.2%. Trump's Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins, claims "people don't need food stamps." Florida's food banks are seeing something very different.
In Miami, the founder of the food bank Curley's House says pantry lines are the longest they've been in 30 years.
Feeding Northeast Florida saw 20% more people at its food giveaways this spring, and its 420 partner groups kept running out of food and turning families away.
In Central Florida, 131,000 people lost SNAP. Second Harvest now gives out enough food for 300,000 meals a day across seven counties. Its advocacy director, Stephanie Palacios, says she's seeing "more and more families that are working one or two jobs come to pantries to fill in that gap."
On October 1, Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" started making states pay a bigger share of what it costs to run SNAP. For Florida, that's $50 million. By fiscal year 2028, the state will need nearly $1 billion to keep benefits going, and nobody has said where that money will come from. ~ Josh Helfgott
@JoshHelfgott