The prestigious Wall Street Journal has devoted a long article to the projects of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in Albania, where they plan to develop a luxury tourist complex on the island of Sazan.
The article emphasizes that the idea for this project came from Donald Trump’s son-in-law after spending a week enjoying the beautiful beaches of Albania.
WSJ writes that Kushner presented the proposal to the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, during a meeting in Davos.
According to the American media, Prime Minister Rama is optimistic about this project, underlining Albania’s potential to increase tourism and attract foreign investments.
WSJ article:
ZVËRNEC, Albania — Months after leaving the White House in 2021, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump spent a week enjoying the beaches of Albania. They climbed the stone steps of a 2,200-year-old theater in Butrint, had dinner on a yacht with the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and were “obsessed” by visiting Albania’s only island. They loved it so much that they thought it would be the perfect destination to build a luxury hotel.
The trip to Albania left such an impression that when Kushner met Rama a few months later at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he made a proposal. During a coffee, Kushner said that he was “very, very mesmerized by the beauties of Albania”. These details were shared by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who added: Kushner asked me if he would have the opportunity to invest in Albania.
Rama gave his blessing—and more.
Kushner, 43, is now working on a project that will cost $1 billion. He is negotiating details with the Rama government to build exclusive villas on Sazan, the military island he visited, which formerly served as a base for Soviet submarines.
The island is ecologically protected. But a new Albanian law allows the construction of hotels, as long as they are at least five stars.
Since leaving the White House, where he served as a senior adviser to his father-in-law, then-President Donald Trump, Kushner has built a new business empire by leaning into geopolitical ties.
Kushner relied on ties to Arab monarchs to raise most of the money in his $3.1 billion private fund. The move has drawn criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
His new company, Affinity Partners, is filled with former Trump administration officials. Some are contenders for top government jobs if Trump wins this November.
In the Balkans, Kushner approached the leaders of Albania and Serbia to develop his real estate business on public lands without having to go through auctions. In Serbia, he is building on a memorial that the government says would be dedicated to all the victims of NATO aggression. Kushner’s fundraising and property deals with other countries are fueling fears that he and other members of the Trump family could benefit by cultivating relationships with world leaders.
But for Kushner, that’s not the case.
“I don’t think anyone has ever said that I broke any rules or didn’t follow the laws of the countries where I want to invest, or that I was very scrupulous in making plans. I’ve learned during my time in government that if I spend my time trying to live in a way that assuages the concerns of so many people I don’t respect who are motivated by party politics, then I’m just going to be paralyzed.”
Asked if Trump is returned to office, will there be complications, Kushner himself appeared unclear: Maybe. There will probably be more judgment on me today than a year ago.
But he also said he is not distancing himself from the presidential campaign. From his office in Miami, Kushner plays an informal role as an adviser.
“I am there to help and advise Trump and his team!”
He also accepts any subpoenas to testify from senators and congressmen. But he adds that he has no plans to return to the government.
The 42-year-old daughter of the former president, Ivanka Trump, said the same thing.
Life in Miami
After Trump left office, Kushner and Ivanka Trump were eager to start another chapter in their lives. The couple and their three children – ages 8, 10 and 13 – quickly left for Miami. They rented a 7,000-square-foot apartment while renovating a $24 million home on Indian Creek Island, a hyper-exclusive village on Biscayne Bay where roughly three dozen homes form a horseshoe-shaped perimeter around a golf course. Tom Brady and Jeff Bezos are the couple’s neighbors.
The family spends their weekends mostly outdoors, skiing and boating in the bay that surrounds their home. Career-wise, unlike her husband, Ivanka Trump chose to keep a lower business profile than she did before 2017. It no longer does branding or development deals for the Trump hotel. Nor is she heavily involved with Affinity, which is wholly owned by Kushner.
Affinity’s staff and advisors include Richard Grenell, who held positions in the Trump administration, including that of ambassador to Germany and White House envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, and Kevin Hassett, the former White House economic adviser. The list also features former top Middle East national security official Miguel Correa.
Even Kushner after leaving the White House returned to his first love; investment in real estate, starting from the Western Balkans. Kushner saw an investment opportunity. Apartment prices are booming in Serbia, while tourists have recently flocked to Albania’s low-cost beaches.
Affinity aims to create thousands of hotel and apartment units just minutes away from a new international airport being built near the city of Vlora.
The agreement with Serbia
Grenell, who as Trump’s envoy to the Balkans was close to the Serbian president, had long eyed the Yugoslav Army general headquarters facility in the historic city center of Belgrade, which the government has sought to redevelop. But it was complicated.
The country was bombed by NATO in 1999 amid an effort to end Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Grenell, eager to bring American investment to the region, called Kushner a few months after Trump left office to try to “sell” his idea.
Kushner sent an employee, who was “amazed” by the vibrancy of Belgrade. In May, Serbia said it agreed to lease the building to Kushner’s investments, which will “throw” $500 million.
As a condition for redeveloping a site in Belgrade that NATO bombed in 1999, Affinity would have to build a memorial for what the Serbian government calls victims of the Euro-Atlantic alliance’s aggression. This framing has sparked controversy.
Clark, Wyden and other Americans have criticized the idea. Nationalists in the Serbian government have opposed the plan, because they consider the building a “holy place”. But it is decided! The Serbian government said the deal would help attract more foreign investment to the country.
A new Mediterranean
At the same time that Belgrade’s plans were well underway, Kushner was eyeing the Albanian coast. After his yachting vacation in 2021 and his coffee in Davos with Rama, he developed his sights on two ideal spots. Chose Sazan – a mountainous island and private land on the Zvrnec peninsula, where flamingos flock.
Sazan will be more exclusive. It was Ivanka Trump’s idea to introduce “Aman”. The brand manages ultra-exclusive resorts with rooms that tend to cost upwards of $1,000 a night. Vlad Doronin, a Soviet-born billionaire who runs Amman, was initially taken aback by the idea, but eventually signed on after sending someone to survey the island’s location. Confronted by the American media, the Aman spokeswoman declined to comment on the construction plans.
Currently, the Albanian government is reviewing the plans, but Rama has been a supporter of the project from the beginning. He calls Kushner a friend and the two exchange messages on WhatsApp.
Months after Kushner officially presented the plans, Albania changed a law to allow hotels in environmentally protected areas, as long as they are five stars or above. The government has said the law had nothing to do with Kushner and was aimed at tourism across the country, but opposition politicians and environmental advocates have attacked the legislation and claim a deal with Kushner is aimed at currying favor with Trump.
Rama said the negotiations with Kushner have nothing to do with Kushner’s ties to Trump and are in line with his vision to build the coast as a high-end tourist destination — while holding onto its mass middle-income appeal.
“If this investment happens, it will be a jewel in the crown of the Mediterranean”, added Rama/WSJ
