Jared and Ivanka’s accidental revolution

July 1, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Flamingo Revolution

In early 2025, a video began circulating in Albania that would spark the country's largest protests since the fall of communism. It showed private security guards violently detaining activists on a stretch of protected coastline near the city of Vlorë. Excavators were digging, fences were going up, and the land in question—a protected wetland home to endangered monk seals, flamingos, and sea turtles—was being cleared for a luxury resort development. The investors: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

How a swim led to a national crisis

The story of how the former first daughter and her husband came to invest in this small Balkan country is, by Ivanka's own telling, almost improbably casual. On a podcast, she described finding the island of Sazan while on a friend's yacht. "We were on a friend's boat and we stopped for a swim," she said. "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."

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What you'll learn

1 (00:02) **The Viral Spark: Senator Ossoff and the Island** - The episode opens with Georgia Senator John Ossoff's viral anti-Trump speeches, leading to his focus on a specific story: Jared Kushner wants to build luxury resorts on the Albanian island of Sazan.
2 (02:01) **The "Flamingo Revolution" Begins** - Politico reporter Jakob Weisman explains the 2024 legal changes in Albania that opened the door for Kushner's $1.6 billion resort project on Sazan Island and nearby wetlands.
3 (04:11) **What's at Stake: A Protected Paradise** - Weisman describes the protected area on Albania's southern coast, home to endangered monk seals, flamingos, and turtle nesting sites.
4 (04:54) **Ivanka's Yacht Story and the Backlash** - Ivanka Trump described on a podcast how she "found" the island while swimming from a friend's yacht, a story locals dismiss as false due to the island's dangerous terrain and history as a military base.
5 (06:32) **The Protests Explode** - The protests grew from a few hundred to an estimated 100,000-200,000 people, with Albanians driving from across Europe to join.
6 (07:57) **Why This Land Matters So Much** - Weisman explains Albania's history of isolation under a brutal communist regime, making the land deeply important to its people.
7 (10:33) **The Counterargument: Tourism as Economic Salvation** - The episode presents the pro-development case: investment creates jobs and could lift a poor country.

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Show Notes

Jared and Ivanka Kushner thought they were investing in luxury resorts in Albania. Instead, they sparked the biggest protests the country has seen since the fall of communism.

This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King.

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in Egypt last year. Photo by YOAN VALAT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.

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