Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are under increasing fire from Albanian citizens over their planned resort development on the Adriatic coast.
One of the projects, located near a protected natural area, has particularly sparked protests across the country, as well as an investigation by regulatory bodies into decisions made in 2024 that changed the land’s legal status.
Meanwhile, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has insisted that the project has yet to commence and that only the “environmental impact is being worked on.”
Thousands Protest Ivanka And Kushner’s Resort Plans
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania’s capital city to rally against a planned luxury resort backed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
According to Forbes, Kushner and his private equity fund, Affinity Partners, are spearheading the project, which aims to transform two key areas in southern Albania into an ultra-luxury destination.
The first is a $1.4 billion development on Sazan Island, an uninhabited former Cold War military outpost. The second is a $4.7 billion deal in a nearby coastal region adjacent to the Vjosa-Narta Protected Area.
Kushner plans to develop 10,000 high-end hotel rooms, luxury villas, and exclusive beachfront access in the area. He told The Guardian that the Sazan resort will be a “very high-end luxury product,” adding that he wanted to create “the ideal resort that I’d want to be at with my family and with my friends.”
Ivanka Trump Gushed About The Albania Project
In a podcast conversation with David Senra, Ivanka recalled how she and Kushner stumbled upon the site during a yacht trip with friends.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim; effectively, that’s how we found it. We swam to the islands, we went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated,” she said, drawing scrutiny from several critics.
Speaking about their planned development there, Ivanka said it would be “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.”
“The Daily Show” anchor Michael Kosta later slammed her as being “out of touch,” while suggesting that she had failed to “read the room.”
Conservationists Claim Work Has Already Started
Locals and environmentalists have raised concerns that the project could threaten the area’s biodiversity and disrupt bird migration routes. Demonstrators carried pink cardboard cutouts of flamingos, which they fear could be forced to relocate if the project moves forward.
According to CNN, the protected area is home to endangered species, including monk seals, nesting sea turtles, and more than 200 bird species, among them flamingos and pelicans.
Several environmental groups have also sent letters to the Albanian government calling for “the immediate suspension of any decisions advancing” the construction.
However, work appears to have already started at the site. BirdLife Europe director Ariel Brunner told CNN that he and other conservationists visited the area in May and saw excavators digging while trucks dumped gravel.
“There was no sign whatsoever, neither by the lagoon where they were cutting the road, nor on the beach where the machinery was working… There were no signs of any kind of license or permits or even just a declaration of who they were,” he said.
Albanian Prime Minister Defends Kushner-Backed Project
However, Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, has insisted that the project has not actually begun and that only “environmental impact is being worked on.”
“There is no such a thing like the family of the American president taking over protected areas where flamingos will be killed by them,” Rama said, noting that the developers had hired a consulting firm to carry out an environmental impact assessment.
According to the CNN report, he maintained that the project will not “pour concrete on the head of flamingos,” but will prove that nature and development “can coexist.”
Rama remains a staunch defender of the project and has urged Albanians to be “welcoming” as he seeks to boost the country’s tourism sector.
“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, as quoted by Reuters. “There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here.”
Ivanka Trump And Jared Kushner’s Resort Faces Corruption Probe
Meanwhile, the project is now being probed by the Special Prosecution Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime, known as SPAK.
Prosecutors are investigating a series of controversial legal changes passed by the Albanian government in 2024, which stripped the coastal land of its protected status.
According to Newsweek, authorities are looking into whether the changes were made to deliberately clear the way for large-scale construction work, which Rama approved in December 2025.
Furthermore, investigative reports revealed that Kushner’s company was granted lucrative “strategic investor” status and will not be taxed for ten years during construction, a move that continues to raise eyebrows among many critics.