Can Trump's team make the MAGA playbook work for Albania's elections?

President Donald Trump seems to see himself as part of a broader global shift toward populism. But while he cozies up to other strong-arm heads of state like Russia's Vladimir Putin and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, the team that helped bring the MAGA movement to the White House has been working to expand the roster of aspiring autocrats, particularly in Albania.

Former Trump campaign strategist Chris LaCivita wants to replicate his 2024 success for Sali Berisha in Albania's May 11 parliamentary elections. Berisha, a former prime minister sanctioned by the Biden administration for corruption, is running to regain power from Prime Minister Edi Rama.

What did the commentators say?

LaCivita, a longtime GOP strategist and former chief operating officer for the Republican National Committee, has become a "surprisingly central figure" in the small Balkan nation's electoral scene, said The Wall Street Journal. He has organized "large rallies, helped design TV ads" and "appeared at various public events" on behalf of Berisha, becoming a "target for opponents and supporters alike." Much of LaCivita's campaign messaging has "echoed Trump," including blaming the incumbent party for "rising prices and crime" while focusing on inflation.

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LaCivita is not alone in exporting the MAGA brand to Albania. He is joined by "Trump's longtime pollster," Tony Fabrizio, and Paul Manafort, the president's 2016 campaign manager, who was convicted in 2018 of "crimes that included secretly lobbying for Ukraine's former pro-Russian president," said The Associated Press.

Berisha's embrace of Trump's electoral team "makes clear" their value to candidates "trying to harness populist sentiment and replicate Trump's rise" in a country where perceived ties to the United States are seen as a "major asset," said the AP. To that end, Berisha and his Democratic Party of Albania have worked to frame LaCivita's work as a "sign of support from the Trump wing of U.S. politics," said the Albanian Times, even as that narrative "appears increasingly uncertain."

Rama is "George Soros' puppet in Albania and in the world," Berisha said to Albania's A2CNN network, reiterating the antisemitic trope frequently used among right-wing movements, including the MAGA movement. LaCivita's "crystal clear message," Berisha claimed, is that he and his party are "the USA's partner in Albania."

"I'm exporting MAGA," LaCivita said to The New York Times. "Make Albania Great Again!" But campaign branding aside, the Trump administration itself has "not signaled support for a preferred party in the parliamentary elections," and LaCivita has said he "would not approach the Trump administration on behalf of Berisha or his party."

The MAGA team's role in Albania's upcoming elections comes at a particularly fraught time, as Prime Minister Rama pushes ahead with plans to join the European Union, a body which Trump has routinely criticized and downplayed. Rama has made EU membership by 2030 a "key part of his campaign," Politico said, as the "growing rift between Brussels and Washington threatens to overshadow" Albania's application process.

What's next?

Despite his deep and ongoing ties to the Trump administration and its nebulous network of associated PACs and consultancies, LaCivita has no plans to "register as a foreign agent" for his work in Albania, The Wall Street Journal said. He also predicts he will be "limited" in taking on further foreign clients next year "because of his work for American politicians in the midterm elections."

Not that LaCivita's eventual withdrawal from the global export of MAGA means Berisha would be left without access to Trump's circle. Berisha's Democratic Party of Albania has recently retained the services of Continental Strategy, a Florida consultancy firm that "employs a roster of lobbyists with ties to Trumpworld," said Mother Jones. That "hefty tab" has been covered by the Make Albania Great Again Foundation, recently registered to a suburban address in New Jersey. Berisha is "seeking removal of a 'persona non grata' designation" imposed for corruption during the Biden administration. According to Continental Strategy's lobbying disclosure forms, the group has "already been in touch with the State Department on behalf of Berisha's party."