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Home Top Stories Jared And Ivanka’s Sazan Island In Albania Faces Protests—Here’s Why

Jared And Ivanka’s Sazan Island In Albania Faces Protests—Here’s Why

adminJune 3, 20264 Mins read2

Jared And Ivanka’s Sazan Island In Albania Faces Protests—Here’s Why

Topline

Thousands of Albanians have gathered in recent days to protest Jared Kushner’s planned luxury resort development, the latest controversy to befall his efforts on the Adriatic Coast, as Kushner broadly faces growing scrutiny for using his private equity fund Affinity Partners to work with foreign governments during his father-in-law’s second presidential term.

Protestors take part in a demonstration in front of the prime minister’s office in Tirana, Albania, on June 3.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Kushner and Affinity are in the early stages of developing two plots of land in Albania, a $1.4 billion deal on the uninhabited island of Sazan and a $4.7 billion deal on part of a protected coastal landscape in Zvërnec.

Kushner intends to build luxury resorts on the properties—with the help of wife Ivanka Trump—telling The Guardian the Sazan resort would be a “very high-end luxury product” that he wanted as “the ideal resort that I’d want to be at with my family and with my friends.”

The Albanian government gave preliminary approval to the Sazan island plan in December 2024—shortly after President Donald Trump’s reelection—granting the project “strategic investor status” that allows it to get quicker government approvals.

That timing has raised concerns about whether the Albanian government is using the project to curry favor with the Trump administration—which officials deny—and comes as Kushner has controversially sought funding for Affinity from foreign governments during Trump’s second term and worked on developing other properties worldwide, including in Gaza.

Kushner’s development has raised widespread environmental concerns—given the planned developments sit within an environmentally protected area home to numerous wildlife species—with 41 environmental groups sending a letter to the Albanian government in January calling for “the immediate suspension of any decisions advancing” the construction.

Albanians started protesting the new development in the spring, after barbed wire and other signs of construction appeared in the area, and unrest has grown in recent days, with protesters crediting videos showing private security guards forcibly removing demonstrators.

Ivanka Trump: ‘how I Want To Live’

Ivanka Trump attracted scrutiny this week for touting the planned luxury development on a podcast. Trump described her and Kushner being “captivated” by the island after first visiting it, and described the project to host David Senra as “the culmination of all of my experience in real estate, all of my travel, a lot of reflection on how I want to live, how I think people increasingly are wanting to live, and trying to really build something that’s a tangible manifestation of that.” Her comments have attracted ridicule from critics of the president, with “Daily Show” anchor Michael Kosta criticizing Trump as being “out of touch” and commenting, “And for those of you who are thinking, hey, before buying a private island, shouldn’t billionaires maybe read the room? What you don’t understand is, the island doesn’t have rooms yet.”

Kushner Project Under Probe Over Environmental Concerns

Anti-corruption prosecutors in Albania are investigating changes the country’s government made in 2024 to laws that make it easier for tourism development to take place on environmentally protected land, the country’s anti-corruption prosecution office confirmed Monday. It’s unclear how long that probe could take to play out or what consequences it could have for Kushner’s development.

What Has The Albanian Government Said?

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has doubled down on Kushner’s planned construction in the face of increasing social unrest. “It is very important that we remain welcoming, that we remain fair, and that under no circumstances do we receive the stigma of being ⁠a country where investors are met with hostility,” Rama said in a statement Tuesday, as quoted by Reuters. “There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.” The Albanian government has also previously defended the development as being in compliance with environmental rules, and developers have also said they intend to move forward with the project in an environmentally conscious manner. “Our focus remains on responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation, and creating long-term value for local communities. We respect the ongoing public and institutional processes,” Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, told Reuters. The government did levy consequences against the private security companies who were alleged to have assaulted protesters, stripping two companies of their licenses and arresting one security guard.

How Long Will Kushner’s Resort Take To Build?

There’s so far no projected timeline for the resorts in Sazan or Zvërnec to be completed, and the projects are not far enough along for any construction to begin. There has not yet been a final plan for the resorts submitted to the Albanian government, and the projects are still technically still being negotiated. Under the terms of the strategic investor agreement signed in 2024, Kushner’s company will not be taxed for 10 years during construction of the project, so it’s possible it could take at least that long to complete.

Who Else Is Involved?

Almost all of the funding behind Kushner’s Affinity Partners comes from abroad, The New York Times previously reported—most notably the Middle East, with government wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates all supporting the investment fund. Kushner told The Guardian he was also introduced to investing in Albania through Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions, and The Guardian reported in 2025 that Grenell was acting as Affinity’s “business broker” in the region. The two were also working with Albanian businessman Shefqet Kastrati and son Musa Kastrati as of 2024, according to The New York Times, and reports suggest development groups tied to the Zvërnec project involve a number of other investors, including Qatari entrepreneurs Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat. Kushner has said he discovered Sazan when he stopped at the island while on a yacht owned by Nat Rothschild, a onetime billionaire and part of the broader Rothschild family, and met with Rada onboard Rothschild’s boat. There’s no indication the Rothschild family is more broadly involved with the project, however.

Tangent

The controversy over the Albanian development comes after Kushner previously also planned to develop a Trump-branded property in Belgrade, Serbia. He ended up backing out of the project in December 2025, however, after four high-ranking government officials were charged with abuse of power and forgery in conjunction with the project. Officials have denied any impropriety, and Affinity said it ended its work on the development because “meaningful projects should unite rather than divide and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the city of Belgrade.”