Albanians protest over Kushner-linked luxury resort on pristine coastline

Environmentally sensitive coastline, a foreign government that needs U.S. goodwill, and a Trump family member with a real estate company. I cannot think of a single reason that deal would have gone through on its merits alone. Not one. And the people pushing back aren't politicians or lobbyists, they're regular Albanians who actually live near that coast and understand what gets destroyed when you pave over an ecosystem for a resort that will serve people who will never set foot in their country again except to collect rent. That's not nothing. That's a population deciding their environment isn't a bargaining chip for someone else's diplomatic relationship. We don't see that kind of turnout for abstract grievances. They know exactly what's at stake.

Kushner gets a luxury resort deal in a country that wants NATO favor and EU membership while the sitting president has veto power over half of Europe's security arrangements. That's not a conflict of interest, that's a business model. The Albanians protesting are asking the right question. Everyone else should be too.

Thousands of Albanians standing in the streets to protect their coastline while Jared Kushner, who has never worked a real day in his life, carves it up for people who already own three yachts. The whole family is a franchise operation. Dad occupies the presidency, son-in-law occupies the coastline, and they call it foreign investment. My parents came here and had nothing and followed every rule and still lived in fear. These people break every rule and get rewarded with Adriatic views. The Albanians out there tonight understand something a lot of Americans still refuse to: when the powerful tell you they are developing your land, they mean for themselves, not for you.

The Albanian government is doing Jared Kushner a favor and they want something in return, that much is obvious to anyone paying attention. What's wild is that this is exactly the kind of thing that would have had Fox News running wall-to-wall coverage if it had a "D" next to it. Remember when a Clinton foundation donation was practically a war crime? Now a sitting president's son-in-law is getting resort deals in countries that need American diplomatic cover and it's just... Tuesday. Thousands of people in the streets of Tirana and the only people who seem to care are the Albanians whose coastline is getting paved over. The corruption isn't even subtle anymore, it's just fully out in the open and the machine keeps moving.