Sazan Island, a small rocky mass in the middle of the Adriatic, has recently become known as “Trump Island”: a piece of land the Albanian government is preparing to grant to Jared Kushner for tourism development. At the same time, the U.S. president’s son-in-law is planning a “Trump Tower” in central Belgrade, provoking intense reactions in both Serbia and Albania.

According to a detailed feature in the French magazine Le Point, Sazan looks like paradise on the surface — a “small pebble” in the Adriatic, home to snakes, crickets, birds and, reportedly, even a few bears taking shelter in the wild vegetation of lavender and 300-year-old pine trees.

In the summer, a few inflatable boats bring tourists from nearby Vlora for two hours of swimming on a large beach before visiting the cave of Haxhi Ali, a 17th-century pirate who, according to legend, hid chests of gold coins there. The island has also become a refuge for sea turtles.

For sixty years, Sazan was a secret military base; today only ruined bunkers and thousands of landmines remain.

Enver Hoxha, Albania’s communist dictator, was deeply suspicious and feared invasions by Italians, Yugoslavs, Americans, and even Russians. After the regime collapsed in the early 1990s, Sazan became a no-man’s-land — the last uninhabited island of the Adriatic

Ivanka’s “love” for Sazan, the seafood lunch, and Rama

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s “love” for Sazan has almost passed into local lore. It happened four years ago while the couple was vacationing with their children in Greece. In Tirana — where government and business circles dream of luxury hotels and tourist numbers have tripled in a decade — their visit was seen as an opportunity.

Auron Tare, an archaeologist turned head of the Albanian National Coastline Agency, organized a tailor-made visit for the Trump-Kushner entourage and a few potential investors, including PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi and an entrepreneur from the UAE. A helicopter and luxury yacht were provided.

Tare showed the group the spectacular villa built by George Tenet, the Greek-American former CIA director. He arranged a seafood lunch at the area’s best restaurant, hosted by his former basketball teammate, Prime Minister Edi Rama himself — warm, Mediterranean, informal, and personally acquainted with Donald Trump.

The visit was considered successful by all sides. Ivanka and Jared began to speak openly about what they could do on the island that Albania was ready to grant.

Architects and lawyers were activated. The following year, Kushner returned. With his partners, he stated willingness to invest slightly over $1 billion — not only in Sazan but also in a huge stretch of land north of Vlora that remains undeveloped. In December last year, a month after Trump’s re-election, Kushner signed a preliminary 99-year lease agreement.

Ivanka’s lightning enthusiasm for Sazan has the glamour of an exotic vacation story. But above all, it is a major financial venture. Kushner is no naive investor. His Miami-based group manages assets worth several billions worldwide, mostly in the Middle East, where Saudi investors are his primary partners and shareholders.

Business in Serbia and the reactions

Kushner did not discover the Balkans on his Sazan visit. One of his key regional “guides” is Richard Grenell, former U.S. ambassador to Germany and Trump’s special envoy to Serbia and Kosovo. Grenell negotiated another major deal for Kushner: the acquisition of an entire city block in central Belgrade.

The area today looks like a pile of ruins. It once housed the Serbian army headquarters, bombed by NATO in 1999 during the Kosovo war and abandoned since the fall of Slobodan Milošević. For nostalgic Yugoslavs, it is a sacred symbol; for younger Serbs dreaming of EU membership, it is a cursed relic.

The planned “Trump Tower” will include a luxury hotel, huge shopping center, and upscale residences. For many, it has already become a symbol of extreme business practices and government opacity. To grant Kushner the land, a special law had to be passed: the site had to be removed from the National Cultural Heritage Registry.

A Ministry of Culture employee resigned rather than sign the paperwork. Lawyer Katarina Kostić is outraged: “Whether we like the original building’s style or not is one thing. But the Trump Tower project denies our history.”

Radovan Kupres, head of the CRTA transparency organization, is also furious. “The problem isn’t really the Trump family,” he says. “The problem is our political class. We are among the most corrupt countries in the world, and everything happened under the table.”

He worries particularly about Kushner’s partner from the UAE, who 12 years ago undertook redevelopment along the Sava riverbank. “It’s very ugly aesthetically,” he says. “They evicted thousands of long-time residents and granted land to top officials through dubious processes.”

Green Party MP Robert Kozma is even harsher. For him, “the end of President Vučić’s dominance is pitiful.” He accuses Vučić of playing “poker with national assets” while courting Russians, Chinese, French, and Americans — yet receiving little in return. As proof he cites the recent U.S. decision to raise tariffs on Serbian goods to 35% and impose sanctions because of Russian involvement in the state oil company.

Environmental concerns

Back in Albania, ornithologist Jonny Vorpsi has a different view: the birds. As part of the PPNEA environmental organization, he monitors developments with concern. He explains that Vlora’s lagoon is a crucial migratory stopover point. New infrastructure threatens to destroy it.

Olsi Nika of EcoAlbania is worried about the massive new Vlora airport, promoted as a magnet for investors and tourists. “For a handful of dollars, we’re going against the course of history,” he warns.

Another scandal, according to him, is that the airport was assigned to companies with limited transparency, including the Swedish firm Mabetex, previously convicted for corruption in renovation projects in Russia. “Politicians sell us dreams: ‘We’ll become the next Saint-Tropez.’ But in reality, we’ll sink under tons of concrete and become the money-laundering hub of Europe.”

Kushner’s investment power

In Tirana, Elira Kokona heads the state agency tasked with granting valuable state assets to investors. The country is poor, she says, and needs development. She has only worked with “Brian,” Kushner’s representative. She has met Kushner once, at a restaurant — a polite meeting, she says.

Affinity Partners, Kushner’s investment fund, was founded in 2021 and raised $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Investors also include the UAE and Qatar with about $1.5 billion. Alongside his Saudi partners, Kushner recently acquired Electronic Arts for $55 billion, confirming the scale of the capital behind the Sazan and Belgrade projects.