What is Jared Kushner doing? 'Happy' meetings with Rama, Vučić and the danger of the Middle East

2025-02-03 19:57:47Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Jared Kushner

Jared Kushner was cruising the Mediterranean with his family in the summer of 2021, a few months after his father-in-law, Donald Trump, left office. As they landed on the Albanian coast, he asked his friend to arrange a meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

During dinner, Rama spoke at length with Kushner, telling him how Albania's magnificent coasts are often ignored by wealthy tourists who go to Italy and Greece.

"Kushner didn't mention investments. He just asked about Albania," Rama recalls. "They were unfamiliar with Albania."

The Kushners left the next day. When they met again in Davos a few months later, Rama said Kushner told him he liked Albania. Kushner had met Mohamed Alabbar, the billionaire investor from the Emirates who is developing a luxury project in the port of Durres, and the two discussed potential investments, Rama says. “I told him that would be great.”

Kushner visited Albania again in the summer of 2023 with a larger entourage, including Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who served as his envoy to the Balkans during his first term. “They stayed for about a week and visited different sites. This time Kushner was direct; we are ready to invest,” Rama says.

On December 30 last year, just three weeks after Trump's second inauguration, the Albanian government gave preliminary approval to Kushner's project to develop a $1.4 billion luxury resort on Sazan, Albania's only island. This is the most expensive project of his private firm, Affinity Partners, which Kushner set up after Trump finished his first term, largely with Saudi funds.

The agreement with Albania is a window into the business empire that Kushner has built since leaving the White House, where he was a Trump advisor and important foreign policy figure.

Before entering politics, Kushner was a real estate developer, focusing on New York. He has now built a portfolio of properties in Eastern Europe, the Persian Gulf and Latin America. Many of these deals were facilitated by connections he made while in government.

Kushner says his business model is based on his ability to see business trends before others. “I’m very comfortable being a nonconformist,” he tells the FT. “I was willing to support Trump when people in my circle thought it wasn’t a popular or smart move. I believed I could make progress in the Middle East when everyone said I was crazy.”

Even before Trump won reelection, Kushner faced allegations of potential conflicts of interest. Democrats have suggested that Gulf investors may see the allocation of funds to Kushner as a way to curry favor with Trump.

Those questions are likely to only grow now that Trump is back in the White House. Kushner is not taking on an official role, but he has been made available to advise.

In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, Affinity has leased the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense, which will be turned into a luxury hotel and residential complex. Serbian President Aleksandar Vu?i?, who has had good relations with the Donald Trump administration, said he was proud of the project. “It will bring more investors – and more people – to Belgrade,” he said. “It’s good for Serbian-American relations.”

Grenell, who has been heavily involved with Western Balkan diplomacy, has presented the agreement as an attempt to improve Serbia's relationship with the West and distance it from Russian influence, its soul mate.

“Grenell never left,” says Zorana Mihajlovi?, the former Serbian deputy prime minister. “He was always here.”

Even Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is happy about Kushner’s investment. Trump’s proximity to the luxury resort deal “is a huge added value, I can’t hide it,” he says. “After Jared announced the deal, real estate prices in the nearby resort of Vlora saw a significant increase.” By focusing on super-luxury clients, Kushner’s project will help Albania benefit from tourism without causing as much damage to conservation reserves as a massive market development, Rama says. “We need super-luxury in this country, just like the desert needs water,” he adds. “What you can get from 500 yachts is the same as what you can get from 40,000 budget tourists.”

But it is the Middle East that presents both risks and opportunities. Kushner has previously described Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud as a friend and said the two were in constant communication. He said Trump arrived at the White House with the intention of getting tough on Saudi Arabia, until bin Salman told Kushner his plans to rid the country of extremist policies.

In short, Saudi Arabia was chosen as Trump’s first overseas visit. “Kushner has a close relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and those who have dealt with him say he has the cultural knowledge to operate in the region,” says Helima Croft, a former CIA analyst who is now head of Middle East research at RBC Capital Markets. “He tends to listen more than he lectures, and he spends time with the key players.

“Nëse administrata Trump është serioze për normalizimin e marrëdhënies midis Arabisë Saudite dhe Izraelit unë dyshoj se ata do të duan të kenë Jared në ekip, edhe nëse ai është më në prapavijë këtë herë.” Ndërsa ai nuk po merr një punë në administratë, ai thotë “Unë jam këtu për të ndihmuar dhe për të dhënë këshilla sipas nevojës”. Megjithatë, edhe një rol jozyrtar në diplomacinë e administratës do të çojë në kritika të mëdha. Që nga krijimi,  Affinity është parë në mënyrë të dyshimtë në Uashington, veçanërisht në mesin e ligjvënësve demokratë, të cilët i kanë karakterizuar milionat në tarifat vjetore që fiton nga investitorët sauditë dhe me bazë në Emiratet e Bashkuara Arabe si akte të ndikimit të huaj.

“Investitorët e Affinity mund të mos motivohen nga konsiderata komerciale, por përkundrazi nga mundësia për të kanalizuar paratë e qeverisë së huaj tek anëtarët e familjes së Presidentit Trump, domethënë Jared Kushner dhe Ivanka Trump”, tha senatori Ron Wyden si pjesë e një hetimi të komitetit financiar të Senatit për fondin. Shqetësimi midis disa ekspertëve të sigurisë kombëtare është se Kushner po përfiton nga lidhjet e krijuara gjatë kohës së tij në qeveri dhe se, duke pasur parasysh lidhjet e tij të ngushta me Trump, ai mund të përdoret për t’i shërbyer interesave të shteteve të huaja në çështje të vështira diplomatike. Wyden dhe Jamie Raskin, një anëtar i komitetit të Kongresit për mbikëqyrjen dhe përgjegjësinë, kërkuan në tetor që Departamenti i Drejtësisë të caktojë një këshilltar special për të hetuar marrëdhëniet e biznesit të Kushner.

“Ndërsa është në listën e pagave të qeverisë saudite, Kushner po shërben njëkohësisht si konsulent politik i ish-presidentit Trump dhe vepron si diplomat në hije dhe këshilltar politik i princit të kurorës saudit Mohammed bin Salman dhe drejtorëve të tjerë të huaj. Pavarësisht se janë të angazhuar në aktivitete të thjeshta politike”, thanë ata në një deklaratë.

Pavarësisht kritikave, Kushner nuk është akuzuar kurrë për keqbërje. “Këta djem nuk do ta pranojnë që kam një histori të jashtëzakonshme suksesi në Lindjen e Mesme,” thotë ai për politikanët demokratë. “Unë i kam ato marrëdhënie të shkëlqyera për shkak të suksesit që arrita, gjë që më kritikuan për përpjekjen për ta bërë në çdo hap të rrugës.”

Kushner says Affinity has always acted properly. “A lot of these people will say everything is a conflict. I’m not going to let that stop me.” Some ethics experts believe Trump and his family members may feel empowered to act with impunity, in part because of the behavior of Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who have faced criticism over their business dealings, including Ukraine. Hunter Biden was convicted of a separate offense unrelated to his business dealings for which he has since apologized. Richard Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, says that ideally the president’s children — and his son-in-law — would recuse themselves from business dealings that could create the appearance of a conflict of interest.

In the past, “the understanding was that family members of presidents should avoid situations that might give the appearance that people are doing business with them to curry favor with the president,” he says. “But unfortunately, I think both from the first Trump administration and the Biden administration with Hunter Biden…that rule has been broken.”

Taken with abbreviations from the Financial Times

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