Kurti–Trump meeting in New York challenges the “anti-Americanism” narrative and weakens Grenell’s political role

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti met directly with the president of the United States, Donald Trump, for the first time during the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly in New York. The meeting took place on September 22, while the Prime Minister’s Office informed the public about it on October 2.

Kurti said that during the conversation he had thanked President Trump for increasing defense investment within NATO. He stressed that Kosovo also aims to become part of the alliance and reiterated that the United States remains Kosovo’s “main ally, irreplaceable partner and special friend.”

Publicist Fadil Lepaja considers the meeting an important diplomatic development for Kosovo because, in his view, it creates opportunities to promote the country’s interests on the international stage.

“Every meeting between a Kosovo official and the president of the United States represents an important diplomatic step and a major opportunity to promote and lobby for the country’s interests, particularly its membership in international organizations, with a focus on NATO and the UN, but also in the new configurations emerging amid efforts to establish a new international order,” Lepaja says.

According to the publicist, the meeting should be viewed within the framework of the stable relations between Kosovo and the United States, which, in his assessment, continue despite political changes in both countries.

“Prime Minister Kurti’s meeting is undoubtedly also a success for his government. It conveys the message that, at the geopolitical level, neither Kosovo nor the United States has any doubts: we have relied on the United States and have consistently received strong support from it,” he says.

Lepaja emphasizes that relations between Kosovo and the United States are determined not only by the governments or politicians in power, but have a broader dimension.

“Regardless of who leads the United States and Kosovo, this friendship between a superpower and a small but dignified country in the Western alliance remains strong and unwavering, at a time when our northern neighbors are facing deep geopolitical dilemmas and divisions,” the publicist states.

In his analysis, Lepaja also links the Kurti–Trump meeting to Kosovo’s domestic political clashes, particularly the repeated accusations over the years that Albin Kurti and the Vetëvendosje Movement have held anti-American positions.

“The meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Kurti is also important for the political alignments in the country. An anti-government bloc had based its political platform on the ‘anti-Americanism’ of Prime Minister Kurti and Vetëvendosje, a claim that hardly had any basis and was mainly supported by statements from a former senior official in President Trump’s previous administration, whose role changed under the current administration,” he says.

Referring to former US envoy Richard Grenell, Lepaja assesses that the meeting held in New York calls into question the political influence of previous statements portraying Kurti as problematic in his relations with Washington.

“This meeting, together with its duration, in a way devalues all the statements made by former US official Grenell and his associates in Albanian and Kosovar parties and media,” Lepaja says.

The publicist considers this development important even if Kosovo moves toward a new electoral process, as it could influence how relations between Kosovo and the United States are handled politically.

“If the country goes to the polls again, this meeting undoubtedly disarms Grenell’s mouthpieces among us, but it could also discourage the Grenellists in the LDK from opposing the agreement on the president,” Lepaja says.

In conclusion, he interprets the meeting as a development that directly affects the political power of the group associated with the former US envoy.

“In a word, this meeting takes the political card and the political group still led by former envoy Grenell out of the game,” Fadil Lepaja concludes.