Jared and Ivanka’s accidental revolution

Summary

Today, Explained – "Jared and Ivanka’s accidental revolution"
Episode Date: July 1, 2026
Host: Noel King
Guest: Jakob Weissman, Politico Sustainability Reporter

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Episode Overview

This episode dissects the uproar in Albania over a luxury resort project spearheaded by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. What began as a controversial real estate venture has sparked massive, historic protests—dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution"—uniting tens of thousands of Albanians against foreign ownership, environmental destruction, and political corruption. Politico reporter Jakob Weissman, with deep experience in the Balkans, guides listeners through the origins, evolution, and implications of the movement, exploring why Albania’s land is so fiercely defended and how this unrest threatens the standing of the country’s colorful Prime Minister, Edi Rama.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Origins of the Controversy

• Law Changes Enable Development

  • In 2024, Albania passed controversial amendments to its law on protected areas, opening doors for luxury tourism developments (02:24).
  • These changes were quickly seized upon by Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Partners, with a $1.6 billion project on Sazan Island and nearby wetlands.
  • Jakob Weissman: "It’s what critics and protesters say opened the door for this luxury tourism resort from Jared Kushner." (02:41)

• Environmental and Cultural Impact

  • The location is a protected wildlife area, home to endangered monk seals, flamingos, and important turtle nesting sites, as well as a beloved cultural spot for local Albanians (04:23).

Protest Ignition: The Flamingo Revolution

• Triggering Event

  • Protests exploded after a video surfaced showing private security violently detaining an activist protesting the start of construction in the wildlife preserve—a home for Albania’s iconic pink flamingos (03:16).
  • Jakob Weissman: "That was really what kicked off everything. People saw that in Albania and they got really upset and they said, you know what? Enough is enough." (03:32)

• Protest Growth and Scope

  • What began as a few hundred environmental activists soon spiraled into tens—and then hundreds—of thousands, including members of the Albanian diaspora traveling from across Europe (06:46–07:17).
  • Protests have grown to encompass broader grievances: healthcare, education, and corruption, not just environmental preservation.

The Role of Ivanka Trump (05:04)

• Ivanka claimed to have discovered Sazan Island while swimming off a yacht, a story locals found implausible due to the island’s rugged, hazardous nature.
  • Ivanka Trump (Podcast Excerpt): "We swam to the islands. We went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated." (05:16)
  • Jakob Weissman: "It's a complete… It’s completely false. There's no way she was able to do that." (05:31)
• The viral sharing of Ivanka’s comments fueled further outrage, coming across as out-of-touch and colonial:
  • Jakob Weissman: “Treating Albania like it’s her own, personal luxury haven… And I think it pissed off a lot of Albanians.” (06:11)

Depths of Albanian Sentiment and History

• Land, Nationalism, and Identity
  • Albania’s history includes monarchy, brutal communist oppression, and decades of isolation (“the North Korea of Europe”).
  • Land retains deep symbolic value after centuries of outsiders and internal hardship.
    • Edi Rama (Albania’s PM): "Albania was one of the most isolated and repressive communist regimes… Enver Hoxha who executed thousands ruled them with an iron fist." (09:07)
  • Locals are acutely aware of the loss of public space; most can’t afford Albania’s privatized beaches, fueling resentment at the idea of further land for elites and foreigners (09:26–10:44).

The Tourism Debate and Government Distrust (10:44)

• Economic Arguments vs Reality
  • Supporters claim foreign investment and tourism will trickle down to the masses, but rampant corruption undermines trust.
    • Jakob Weissman: "There is so much suspicion and there are so many, there's so many allegations of corruption… People, they don't believe that… That's why so many Albanians are leaving the country." (11:16)
  • The government’s tourism “vision” is seen as serving elite interests, likened by critics to turning Albania into a mini-Dubai.

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Spotlight: Prime Minister Edi Rama

Rama's Persona and Vision (16:41–20:18)

• Described as a “character”—a former basketball player and artist, known for eccentricity (white sneakers at EU meetings, playful interviews).
  • Edi Rama (on unpredictability): "When Albania will join the EU, there are three things you can’t predict. Three, right? God, sex, and the EU." (16:56)
• He has ruled for 13 years with a vision to reposition Albania as the “Maldives of Europe,” fostering a massive tourism boom (19:16).
  • Tourism has soared: 4 million to over 12 million annual visitors in a decade.

Handling of Protests and Corruption (20:18)

• Rama dismisses the outrage as a “Trump effect” due to Kushner’s fame, blaming foreign interference, anti-Semitism, and even referencing Iranian hackers—compared by Weissman to old-school communist conspiracy rhetoric (20:22–21:06).
  • Jakob Weissman: "It’s the same thing he’s doing now… same kind of tactics." (21:06)
• Despite new political heat, Rama’s grip on power has persisted through questionable elections, widespread corruption, and repression of his opponents (22:12–23:43).
  • Jakob Weissman: "Everyone around him is just linked to corruption in some kind of way… but he’s also confident that he has the support of the country." (23:17)

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International Context and Conspiracy Theories

• Israel & U.S. Ties:
  • Albania’s historical openness to Jews during WWII is a source of pride and a basis for current alliances. Rama leverages these links, plus U.S. backing, to justify and maintain his policies (23:43–24:53).
• Online Theories:
  • Social media abounds with unsubstantiated claims about the resort becoming an Israeli enclave or relocation point for Palestinians from Gaza.

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The Movement’s Future

• A Leaderless Protest:
  • The movement is broad, angry, but lacks central leadership or a single, clear agenda (25:14).
  • Protesters want both Rama and the long-entrenched opposition out, and development projects canceled, but the path forward is uncertain.
  • Jakob Weissman: "These protesters don’t have a clear leader… Is this the time? Is this creating the space for someone else to emerge and say, I’m here to lead the way for Albania into democracy…? I want to believe that…" (25:14)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Jakob Weissman:

  • “For me, it’s ridiculous to even try to fathom that people from their own country cannot go and enjoy their own nature and beaches.” (10:44)
  • "It's not about any more flamingos. It's about healthcare, it's about education." (07:53–08:01)

• Edi Rama:

  • “Don't mess with the Albanians, because if the Albanians curse you, you just disappear.” (16:56)
  • "He is not striking. No, again, you have to understand, again..." (18:10 — on defensive stance regarding billion-dollar deals)
  • "This is an ideological bull." (18:03)

• On Rama’s Defense:

  • "He said that they wouldn't give a shit if it wasn't for Jared Kushner..." (20:22)

• On the Viral Ivanka Excerpt:

  • “We swam to the islands. We went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.” – Ivanka Trump (05:16)
  • “Treating Albania like it’s her own... personal luxury haven... And I think it pissed off a lot of Albanians.” – Jakob Weissman (06:11)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:12] – Introduction of Jakob Weissman and project background
• [03:16] – Flamingo Revolution: Spark of protests
• [05:04] – Ivanka Trump’s story and viral impact
• [06:46] – Evolution and scale of protests
• [09:07] – Historical context: Albania’s past isolation
• [10:44] – Economic arguments, tourism, public sentiment
• [16:41] – Edi Rama’s character and leadership style
• [20:22] – Rama’s response to protests, deflection and blame
• [22:12] – Corruption scandals and election integrity
• [23:43] – US and Israel ties, conspiracy theories
• [25:14] – Leaderless movement, uncertain path forward

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Conclusion

This episode presents a vivid, layered portrait of how foreign investment by famed U.S. figures collided with Albania’s fragile democracy, wounded national pride, and hopes for a better future—fueling a movement no one, least of all Jared and Ivanka, intended to ignite. The Flamingo Revolution is about more than land or tourism: it’s a cry against corruption, exclusion, and a call for true representation. Only time will tell if Albania’s movement leads to meaningful change or fizzles without unified leadership.

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Transcript

[Noel King]

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff has been going viral recently with these pithy anti Trump speeches.

[Jakob Weissman]

You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like A Klansman at 1am A lot of

[Noel King]

people seem to love him. The people in the crowd, the people who watch after he's trying to put

[Jakob Weissman]

his face on the money. Did you see that?

[Noel King]

And therefore, a certain type of political watcher, me, always wants to know what Senator Ossoff is going to seize on next. Most recently, just a few days ago, it was this.

[Jakob Weissman]

There's this beautiful little island off the Albanian coast called Cezanne.

[Noel King]

And.

[Jakob Weissman]

And Jared Kushner wants it.

[Noel King]

He went to Jared. Yes. Jared and Ivanka have set their sights on some stretches of heretofore unspoiled land in Albania. They want to build luxury resorts upon that land. And Albanians are in the streets saying loudly, yo, that's no. Coming up on today explained. Support for today explained comes from ServiceNow. AI is moving fast, but without visibility, it's just chaos. Different tools, different models, different teams using AI in completely different ways. A mess. Service now turns that mess into control. With the AI control tower, you see all your AI across the business in one place. Oh, what it's doing, what it's done, what it's about to do. So you stay in control. To put AI to work for people,

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[Noel King]

Jakob Weissman is a sustainability reporter for Politico. He's now based in Brussels, but he worked in the western Balkans, including in Albania, for almost a decade. And so he has been following La Fair Kushner, who for years now.

[Jakob Weissman]

Yeah. So in 2024 in Albania, they passed these very controversial amendments which brought about change to this law on protected areas, which essentially is what critics and protesters say opened the door for this luxury tourism resort from Jared Kushner.

[Noel King]

Kushner's investment firm, Affinity Partners, is involved

[Jakob Weissman]

in a potential 1.6 billion development of

[Noel King]

Sazan island into a luxury resort as well as the nearby wetlands.

[Jakob Weissman]

In this stretch of kilometers of land of wildlife habitat, we plan to build a new city. And then earlier this year, they began construction, and it was met with fierce resistance from local residents and from activists.

[Edi Rama]

This is the video that spoiled sparked the uprising people are now calling the Flamingo Revolution. Private security guards violently detain an activist protesting against a luxury development in a protected nature preserve that is a home for the iconic pink bird.

[Jakob Weissman]

You can visibly see they were beginning construction. There were excavators, there were diggers, there were fences being built up. And when I went there myself, you could see that there was a road already built, as you could see the foundation from the fences. So that was really what kicked off everything. People saw that in Albania and they got really upset and they said, you know what? Enough is enough. We're going to take it to the streets. Across Albania, days of mass protests with police turning the water cannon on demonstrators

[Noel King]

filling the streets of the capital. The protests keep growing in Tirana, Albania, for days. Thousands have gathered and at times have clashed with authorities all over. Luxury real estate developments linked to Jared Kushner. He's one of the investors.

[Jakob Weissman]

Albania belongs only to Albanians, and Albania

[Noel King]

is not for sale. What's there right now?

[Jakob Weissman]

Yes. In this protected area along the southern coast of Albania, near the coastal city of Vlora, there is this protected wildlife area, which is home to endangered species of monk seals to flamingos to. It's a. It's a very popular turtle nesting site. It's a. It's a migratory path for. For birds. And this is a special place that Albanians in that area hold dear to their heart. It's a place where people go fishing. It's a place where people go to the beach with their families. It's an untouched area where you can really feel the beauty of Albania. And for that to be ruined by excavators and diggers and fences, it's basically that people are saying, no, this is not allowed to happen.

[Noel King]

And then how does Ivanka Trump get involved in all of this?

[Jakob Weissman]

Yeah. So, on a podcast recently, Ivanka had described a story how she found the island when she was on a friend's yacht and they swam out to the island.

[Ivanka Trump]

We were on a friend's boat and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that's how we found it. We swam to the islands. We went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated. And it stayed with us ever since.

[Jakob Weissman]

It's just a very unlikely story, because, first of all, the island used to be a military headquarters during the Communist era. So there's a danger of explosive mines still remaining across the island. And also, there's a lot of glass everywhere. It's not well kept, and there is a danger of snakes. So when I told the locals about this story, they were like this. It's. It's a complete. It's completely false. There's no way she was able to do that. I mean, the island is a very rugged landscape and making it very difficult to hike barefoot to the top.

[Ivanka Trump]

Not only the island, but we have five miles of beachfront directly across from the island, this beautiful peninsula with a lagoon on one side, the ocean on the other.

[Jakob Weissman]

I think when the protests began to start, that podcast really began to go viral, because people started sharing, and people started getting upset hearing what she had to say. You know, just treating Albania like it's her own, you know, personal luxury haven, that she can just swim out to an island and say, hmm, I want that. And I think it pissed off a lot of Albanians and to the point where it kind of pushed them over the edge, because first you have Kushner, and then you have his wife also talking about their country. Like, it's just, you know, something that they can take, like a. Like a toy.

[Noel King]

Hmm. Tell me what the protests look like and who's involved.

[Jakob Weissman]

I remember a few years ago, it was really just a couple of hundred people from civil society, environmental organizations. By the time I got to Albania, it started growing from 10,000 to 20,000. And then it just became this daily routine for Albanians. You would finish work, and then you would just go out on the streets and start protesting. Albania is a small country. It's 2.4 million. And now, I mean, there is going up to 100,000, maybe 200,000. And there are people driving from the UK from Belgium, from Germany to join the protests, and people driving from all

[Edi Rama]

across the country, all over Europe and all over the world. There are people wanting to come to Albania and to protest for Albania. We want people to be happy and to be able to enjoy our coastline. We don't want to be tourists in our own country.

[Jakob Weissman]

Is the first time that we protest.

[Noel King]

The protest is at this scale.

[Jakob Weissman]

So I feel like it's just awakening of civic consciousness against this tourism boom in Albania and this foreign investment from Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump that they're just basically saying no to. And it's not just. It began with that, but now it's become so much more.

[Edi Rama]

This prime minister should leave. And it's not about any more flamingos. It's about health care, it's about education.

[Jakob Weissman]

All Albanians together are coming together to

[Edi Rama]

protest against corrupted regime.

[Jakob Weissman]

I mean, if you compare, Albania borders Greece, for example. And as we all know, Greece is a. It's a hotspot for Americans and Europeans during the summer to visit Santorini, to visit Mykonos, to enjoy the island and the blue waters. Albania has a beautiful coast, but they don't have these kind of islands. What they do have is Cezanne. So I do feel like if they're going to do something with the island, that decision belongs to the Albanian people, is what they're saying. So it's very important to understand that Albanians have been through a lot in the last hundred years. They were under a monarchy, they were under the Nazi occupation. Then they went through a brutal communist regime for 50 years, and finally their hopes had surfaced once more after the fall of communism. It was a very poor country. It was isolated from the entire world during communism. For more than 50 years. Albania and its capital, Tirana, were so hermetically sealed, they were named the little

[Edi Rama]

North Korea of Europe. Albania was one of the most isolated and repressive communist regimes. People weren't even allowed to talk to foreigners. They were fed a propaganda diet suggesting that theirs was an exemplary society. And Enver hoxa who executed thousands, ruled them with an iron fist.

[Jakob Weissman]

And Albania was all alone. People were not allowed to leave the country. So the land is so important to the Albanians, and when someone like Kushna comes along, it just wakes up the entire country and says, no, this is ours, and you're not going to touch it and then become something so much more. Because then you look at the people who are responsible for bringing this investment into the country, who are responsible for the corruption and changing these laws to bring in shady investment deals. And it's basically the awakening of a country and the most historic moment in Albania since the fall of communism and Albanians themselves. It's still one of the poorest countries in Europe. People I know and people I've spoken to in Albania, they cannot afford to go to the beach. It's not like in the US where you have public beaches, right? You can go down the coast in New Jersey or Delaware, and you could just plop your umbrella and chair. I mean, Albania doesn't have that kind of infrastructure. If you want to enjoy the beach, you have to pay money. And Albanians cannot afford to drive down to the coast 2 to 3 hours and pay €20,30 for an umbrella and you have to order drinks and food. They can't. And they can. And it's just. For me, it's ridiculous to even try to fathom that people from their own country cannot go and enjoy their own nature and beaches.

[Noel King]

Supporters of this project would take a look at the circumstances that you're describing. This is a poor country with a lot of poor people. And what they would is this is investment. Tourism is investment. It means you build things up. It means people get jobs. It means Albanian people working at the resorts then have money to spend. Right. They would make the kind of trickle down and out argument. Is there a case here, you've been reporting on this. Is there a case that tourism and investment could actually be a boon to Albania's economy and these protests might be short sighted?

[Jakob Weissman]

To be fair, I, there are people I have spoken to who think that tourism is good for the country. I'm not going to say that all the people in Albania think that, that this is a bad thing, what, what Kushner is doing. But there is so much suspicion and there are so many, there's so many allegations of corruption. I mean, the country's track record in the last 20, 30 years is not good and does not convince people that there's going to be trickle down economics where you build a resort and they will, that will create jobs and that will, that will add infrastructure and that will bring in investment and that will bring in money to the people. People, they don't believe that. They don't think the money will come to them. That's why so many Albanians are leaving the country. The mass immigration from Albania is insane. You talk to anyone in Albania, their only dreams is to leave. I mean, it's depressing. I mean, you go to a country and all they can think about is leaving their country. And Eddie Rama, the Prime Minister, is trying to bring this hope to the country. Okay, look, we're going to build these resorts. The money is going to come down to you. We're going to keep investing. You have this 750 page document called his plan for Albania, the Albania files, where there's several different projects that are spread across the country. But for me and for many people, it just looks like his personal Eagle art project. And what I mean by that is that it contains all these projects that he has for Albania for this vision that he has of Albania for the future, for it to become into a tourist haven, a tourist hotspot where many people across the world will flock to. But for me, really, it just seems like he's trying to turn it into Dubai. And I think for many people and for Albanians, they don't really trust the fact that these kind of development will be able to feed back into the country. We'll be able to create new jobs. We will be able to make the country richer because the scale of corruption that's going on in the country is forcing people to lack trust in the government. And so Rama's vision and the agreement that the Albanian people have with that vision are just not in line anymore.

[Noel King]

Politico's Jakob Weissman when we return, the protesters say they want Albania's prime minister out. Prime minister is a really interesting guy. Stay tuned for that. Support for TODAY explained comes from ServiceNow. ServiceNow says AI was supposed to handle the parts of the job that you hate. Instead, it just describes them, suggests what to do about them, and then leaves you to do it. What? That's not help, that's homework. ServiceNow's AI specialists are different. They say they're not a tool. Think of them as digital teammates who actually do the work from start to finish. Cases get resolved, requests get processed, loops get closed. And most importantly, they say no extra work for you. Because when you can truly delegate to AI, you can get back to the work only you can do the work that requires a person with ideas and judgment and, you know, a pulse. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com.

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[Jakob Weissman]

This is today explained.

[Noel King]

We're back with POLITICO's Jakob Weissman. Jakob, tell me about Albania's prime minister.

[Jakob Weissman]

Yeah. Eddie Rama. He's quite a character. And he tries so hard to be funny and he tries so hard to be relatable.

[Edi Rama]

When Albania will join the eu, there are three things you can't predict. Three, right? God, sex and the eu. Don't mess with the Albanians because if the Albanians curse you, you just disappear. Yeah, I know something about the order. I have had several divorces, you know.

[Sponsor Announcer]

All right.

[Edi Rama]

And he has his own podcast episode.

[Jakob Weissman]

He used to be a basketball player and he was a painter. And then he became a teacher.

[Edi Rama]

In my previous life, I was an artist. I still paint. I love art. I love the joy that color can give to our lives.

[Jakob Weissman]

His grandfather was the chauffeur for the king of Albania back in the 1930s. His father was a famous sculptor that had connection with the communist regime. And Eddie Rama, what can you say? I mean, he has, he's iconic for his white basketball sneakers that he wears to meetings with European leaders. He's been cursing non stop in interviews.

[Edi Rama]

This is an ideological bull.

[Noel King]

At the same time, he's striking these billion dollar deals.

[Edi Rama]

He is not striking. No, again, you have to understand, again,

[Jakob Weissman]

and based on this character that I'm describing, he, he's, you know, this six, six tall basketball player who turned politician.

[Edi Rama]

Listen, I'm the prime minister of Albania. I'm the tallest among them. But I represent a small country. So it's not up to me to think about all the big things.

[Jakob Weissman]

Who's been in power for 13 years.

[Noel King]

You describe Albania as a country in which a lot of people are still very poor. What is his vision for Albania? What's he done for the economy?

[Jakob Weissman]

Well, he kind of has this dream of Albania, of becoming the Maldives of Europe. He wants Albania to become the next hot spot for tourism.

[Edi Rama]

Have you ever heard of a law of the land that proclaims our houses belong to God and the guests? Well, such a law was written in medieval Albania and has since become an integral part of the Albanian way of life.

[Jakob Weissman]

He wants people to continue visiting the country. And the tourism boom has been enormous in the last 10 years. I mean, it has tripled in size from 4 million to now 12 million, maybe even 13 million. This is one of the countries that have been with the highest increase in tourism across Europe. And he has this vision for Albania, and he feels frustrated that people don't

[Edi Rama]

see that this has come as one of the culminations of a long, long, long tortuous path to turn Albania from a place where no investors wanted to come.

[Jakob Weissman]

The only way to create this tourist paradise of Albania is to bring in this foreign investment like Kushner.

[Edi Rama]

This is a bless for the country. An investment of 4 billion euro in a country that has 27 and a bit more billion euro GDP speaks by itself.

[Noel King]

You interviewed the Prime Minister. What did he tell you about these protests?

[Jakob Weissman]

He said that they wouldn't give a shit if it wasn't for Jared Kushner, which is basically, you know, devoiding himself of any blame for what is happening. He's saying that the reason why people are so upset is because it's linked to Jared Kushner and the Trump family and that these protesters are designed as some kind of anti Trump revolution. And he's saying that there's been foreign interference from Iranian hackers and the government.

[Edi Rama]

I'm not saying that who is protesting in the street is an Iranian agent. I'm saying that there is a lot of manipulation. There is a lot of half truths that become bigger and bigger lies by the hour.

[Jakob Weissman]

And then the Iranian Foreign Ministry themselves responded, saying as a joke that the flamingos must be the secret agents. And then he's also, because Jared Kushner is Jewish, he was involved in the Abraham Accords. And he's trying to say that there's also this narrative of anti Semitism that is also going on at the moment, and his Jared Kushner's ties with Israel, there's been these conspiracy theories that have been circulating online that this resort will become a place where Palestinians will be repopulated from Gaza or it will become an Israeli safe haven. He is saying that there is foreign interference. This is the same kind of thing that the former communist dictator of Albania and Verhocha used to do and say that there is foreign interference from the west and from China and that we are being infiltrated by Stalin, Stalinist agents. This is the same thing he's doing now. Pointing at Iran, pointing at anti Semitism, pointing at, you know, anti Trump. It's. It's the same kind of tactics.

[Noel King]

What do you think about this guy's political future? Is it at risk now?

[Jakob Weissman]

Well, for one, for starters, Albania had elections last year. He won by no overwhelming majority. If you look at the reports on these elections from these, these independent observers that are launched by these international organizations, there have been reports of intimidation, vote buying, meddling. I mean, there have been so many issues, people taking issues of how the elections were held. And I'm not disputing that he is the popular leader that was elected, but you can see that there have been accusations of how he has kept his power. The people around him have been sent to jail. You know, the person that was primed to take over from him, Erian Velya, he was brought into jail on corruption allegations. He's still sitting in jail. Then the deputy minister of Albania was dismissed because of allegations surrounding corruption as well. And then before that, a few years ago, their former deputy prime minister, he fled the country and is now in exile in Switzerland. So you can see that everyone around him is just linked to corruption in some kind of way. And this is really, I think he's starting to feel the heat, but he's also confident that he has the support of the country and doesn't matter if it's 500,000. He thinks that the rest of the 2 million people in the country are still in favor of him and that he has the backing of Israel and he has the backing of the U.S. and, and there is no viable opposition, so he can do what he wants.

[Noel King]

Why does he have the backing of Israel in the United States? What's the relationship there?

[Jakob Weissman]

Yeah, that's. That's a fair question. Albania was one of the only, if not the only country during World War II that actually had an increase of Jewish population.

[Edi Rama]

We know that the people of Albania were. Are not merely good friends today of the people of Israel, but in the crucial period of the Holocaust.

[Jakob Weissman]

They saved Jews during World War II, where they gave them fake identities, dressed them with Albanian clothing. And so the connection between Israel and Albania has been very strong for many, many years. And this comes to blows when someone who is Jewish, like Kushner, and has connection with Israel, and I'm not sure how far as we can argue that his connection with Israel goes other than the fact that he was involved in the Abraham Accords. So you have this triangle, right? And it's kind of closing in on Rama to the point where he's saying that he needs to preserve these relationships. So he, he, I think he views the relationship with Israel and the US As a priority. And, and he thinks that he needs to keep this project that Kushner is involved in going in order to preserve

[Noel King]

that relationship with the U.S. ultimately, whether Rahma keeps his position or not would seem to depend on whether these protests burn out or not. So as you observe people going out into the streets and making demands, do you get the sense that they are in this for the long haul, or do you think that this is something that, you know, burns itself out?

[Jakob Weissman]

I really want to say it doesn't burn itself out. I really don't, because I do think that Albanians have been frustrated for so many years. You know, there was so much hope for the future of the country when Communism fell in 1991. The Albanian people have been through so much, you know, the older generations and younger generations. And you can really fully feel the frustration when you talk to the protesters. But at the same time, these protesters don't have a clear leader. It's the people's movement. It's, it's not as if they're looking to someone saying, you are going to be the one to lead us. You know, you're going to be the one to part the Red Sea and lead us out of the waters. It's. They have a list of demands. They want Rama and the opposition, the opposition Saudi Arabia, both of them to leave because they've both been the same two people in power since the fall of communism, and they wanted, they want the projects to be canceled. But at the end of the day, where is the direction that they're headed? There are very small opposition parties that have barely have any power in the government. Is this the time? Is this creating the space for someone else to emerge and say, I'm here to lead the way for Albania into democracy and enough with this corruption and democratic backsliding? I want to believe that that eventually will happen, but I don't know what direction the protests are headed in now because Rama has refused to resign.

[Edi Rama]

Foreign.

[Noel King]

That was Jakob Weissman of Politico. Thanks so much to him. Dustin DeSoto produced today's show, and Amina Elsadi edited. David Tadashore and Patrick Boyd engineered. And Gabriel Donatov checks the facts. I'm Noel King. It's Today explained,

[Ivanka Trump]

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