Claim:
Footage shared online authentically showed a dancer in a giant martini glass performing at U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2025 “Great Gatsby”-themed Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago Club.
Rating:
As the U.S. government shutdown over budget disagreements continued in late 2025, social media users shared footage purportedly showing a Halloween party at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. One video (archived) appeared to feature a dancer in a giant martini glass and revelers dressed in 1920s costumes standing by a swimming pool.
The clip spread elsewhere on X, where one user wrote (archived): “From Trump’s Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago, while he refuses to negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government.”
Another account that shared the footage also posted other videos (archived) allegedly from the same event. The latter’s caption, which highlighted how the event seemingly took place while the government shutdown was affecting Americans, read: “Dancers at Trump’s Halloween party as people begin losing food stamps under his administration.”
In short, the above video was taken at the Mar-a-Lago Club on Oct. 31, 2025, during a Trump Halloween party. Details in the clip, such as the location, decor and people’s outfits, corresponded with other images journalists captured at the venue on the same date. Other social media users also posted different footage of the woman in the martini glass. As such, we have rated this claim as true.
Other videos show same woman in glass
Searching Instagram for user-generated footage from the party — by looking through location tags for Mar-a-Lago — uncovered numerous videos, from different angles, that other partygoers recorded, showing the same woman dancing in the martini glass.
The videos and photographs could be seen on Instagram here (archived), here (archived), and here (archived) (slide 13). Screenshots of key moments are below.
(Instagram user “steve_ploof”)
(Instagram user “tikky_ruby”)
(Instagram user “cindysstyle”)
(Instagram user “cindysstyle”)
Other photos of the party
Agence-France Presse photographer Roberto Schmidt took numerous photos of the party. They showed large silver and gold balloons in the Mar-a-Lago swimming pool and women dressed in white “flapper” dresses (inspired by women’s fashion in the 1920s) with large feathered fans.
(Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Another photograph Schmidt took showed Trump seated among guests on tables with white feather decorations.
(Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
As Snopes previously reported, AFP (archived) and NewsNation (archived) White House correspondents said the theme was “The Great Gatsby” and “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody,” which likely referred to a song in the 2013 “The Great Gatsby” movie’s soundtrack.
Google’s reverse-image search tool uncovered no examples of people posting the footage of the woman in a giant martini glass prior to Oct. 31, 2025.
Confirming the location
The details of the building behind the dancer in one of the X posts, such as the placement of the bushes, the white archways and the color of the walls, corresponded with a February 2017 Getty Images photo of Mar-a-Lago’s pool and spa area.
Additionally, as the camera panned away from the dancer in the video on X, it revealed golden and silver balloons floating on a swimming pool. Those same balloons featured in the AFP photographer’s picture on Getty.
(X user @PatriotTakes)
Further context
As stated above, one of the X users said the party occurred “as people [began] losing food stamps under [Trump’s] administration,” while another added that it took place as Trump “[refused] to negotiate with Democrats to reopen the government.”
Snopes previously reported that, in late October 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the country’s biggest food aid initiative, also known as food stamps. Federal judges ordered Trump’s administration to use government contingency funds to keep SNAP functioning. On Nov. 3, his administration said it would partially fund SNAP but that the process could take months.
The government continued to be shut down at the time of publication, with Republicans (archived) and Democrats (archived) blaming each other for the standoff.
Snopes has previously reported on the claim that Trump spent more than $3 million of taxpayer money on the “Great Gatsby” party. We found that while the cost of Trump’s transportation to and from the party would have been covered by taxpayer-funded government departments, it was unclear whether taxpayer funds contributed to the party itself.
Sources
Christensen, Laerke. “Investigating Rumor Trump Spent $3.4M in Taxpayer Money on ‘Great Gatsby’ Halloween Party.” Snopes, 3 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/11/03/trump-gatsby-halloween-party/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Flapper | Girl, Fashion, Style, Dress, Era, & 1920s | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/flapper. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
“Giant Balloons Adorn a Pool near Where US President Donald Trump Was…” Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2025, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/giant-balloons-adorn-a-pool-near-where-us-president-donald-news-photo/2243880349. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
‘Https://X.Com/RepJeffries/Status/1984742294969295324’. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/1984742294969295324. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
‘Https://X.Com/SpeakerJohnson/Status/1985817225014501690’. X (Formerly Twitter), https://x.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1985817225014501690. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DQhMYedDpGH/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DQhwFGOkWEf/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DQor7x-EWtK/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
‘Trump Administration Must Pay Snap Food Benefits, US Judges Say’. BBC News, 31 Oct. 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr433x9zqq4o.
Ibrahim, Nur. “Did JD Vance Get Food Stamps as a Child? Unpacking the Claim.” Snopes, 4 Nov. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//news/2025/11/04/jd-vance-food-stamps-recipient/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
The Great Gatsby (2013) – Soundtracks – IMDb. www.imdb.com, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343092/soundtrack/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
“TOPSHOT – A Dancer Walks through an Event Hall at US President Donald…” Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2025, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dancer-walks-through-an-event-hall-at-us-president-donald-news-photo/2243878839. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
“US President Donald Trump Attends a Halloween Party at His Mar-a-Lago…” Getty Images, 1 Nov. 2025, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-attends-a-halloween-party-at-his-mar-news-photo/2243880114. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
“View towards the Pool and Spa of the Mar-a-Lago Estate, Palm Beach,…” Getty Images, 22 Feb. 2017, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/view-towards-the-pool-and-spa-of-the-mar-a-lago-estate-palm-news-photo/643943436. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
