Protests against the Trump family escalate - even the authorities get involved

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• Albanians have been protesting for days against a construction project on the island of Sazan and near the Narta Lagoon on the coast.
• Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, among others, want to build a luxury resort on Sazan for 1.4 billion dollars.
• On the coastal strip opposite, the nature reserve near the lagoon is to be built for 4.7 billion dollars.
• Because the nature reserve has been watered down, the construction project is now being investigated by the Albanian anti-corruption authority.

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"If it wasn't for Jared [Kushner], I wouldn't give a shit what happens in Albania," said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama angrily on the sidelines of a meeting between the EU and the Western Balkan countries in Tivat, Montenegro, according to the news portal Politico.

What happened? Albania's prime minister is reacting to massive protests against a planned construction project being pushed by Donald Trump's son-in-law and his wife Ivanka Trump. They want to build up to 10,000 hotel rooms on the Adriatic coast for several billion euros.

"Ivanka, go home"

Albanians protest against Trump's daughter and Jared Kushner's billion-dollar building

Kushner and Trump want to turn Albania's only island called Sazan into a luxury vacation resort: "It's an incredible, beautiful 1400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean," Ivanka Trump tells podcaster David Senra.

Sazan, the Narta lagoon and the village of Zvërnec on the Adriatic coast.

Google Earth

The title of the interview is, of all things: "Ivanka Trump on building an authentic life".

Being Ivanka

"For the record: Jared and Ivanka are not sly real estate moguls traveling the world to rake in private islands," comedian Michael Costa comments on the billion-dollar project on the "Daily Show": "This was more of an impulse buy."

The comedian pokes fun at the president's daughter, who faithfully recounts how her husband and she were on their friend Nathaniel Rothschild's boat, swam to the island and explored it barefoot. "That's how we found it."

Costa asks ironically: Couldn't it be a little more remote? And the 44-year-old president's daughter delivers: "You know, it's not even a business for me," says Ivanka Trump in the podcast.

"It feels more like a challenge than anything else: the culmination of all my experience in real estate, all my travel - a lot of reflection on the way I want to live and the way people increasingly want to live," the New Yorker explains. "I'm trying to build something that's a tangible manifestation of that."

Start of the "flamingo revolution"

The project is not at all well received by the affected population, as demonstrations in the capital Tirana show. The people are not only bothered by the planned sale of the island: the opposite beach on the mainland, which lies on a lagoon, is also to be transferred to private ownership.

The Narta Lagoon is a refuge for migratory birds and is actually a declared nature reserve: the protest against the luxury resorts has therefore been dubbed the "Flamingo Revolution". The protesters are not only against the foreign investors, but also against their own prime minister, who supports the sale.

According to "Politico", Rama railed against "Trump haters" who were fueling the protest. The socialist believes that foreigners will bring money into the country: "As long as I am here, there is no chance of stopping this investment," Rama promises, according to Time magazine .

In fact, the first preliminary work on the construction project has already begun, according to the report: the beach near the village of Zvërnec on the coast has already been cordoned off. While the investment on the island of Sazan is estimated at 1.4 billion dollars, the project on the coast is expected to cost as much as 4.7 billion dollars, reports Forbes.

The sale is approved shortly after Trump's election victory

What critics criticize: Kushner and Trump were given the green light by the Albanian government in December 2024 - shortly after Ivanka's father won the election. At the same time, Jared Kushner was guaranteed ten years of tax exemption and regulations concerning the development of tourism in nature reserves were softened.

According to the Albanian portal "Reporter", these events have now brought the Special Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK) onto the scene. According to the report, the construction project on the coast is linked to an offshore company in the Netherlands, which is said to have influenced the weakening of nature conservation laws.

A network is said to be behind the matter, which includes an ex-judge who waved through the rule change. A businessman with links to the Italian mafia and the daughter of a lawyer accused of forging documents, as well as the Albanian oligarch Shefqet Kastrati, are also said to be on board.

The money for the coastal project allegedly comes from Power International Holding, which is backed by the Qatari brothers Moutaz and Ramez Al-Khayyat. "We have never seen anything like this in Albania's protected areas," complains Aleksandr Trajce from the nature conservation organization PPNEA to the Guardian.

"The locals got really angry"

"From start to finish, there was a total lack of transparency," Trajce continues. "We have seen no public consultation or public documentation about permits." The site had been cordoned off with a fence with barbed wire - dunes and a pine forest had previously been leveled to build an access road.

"That's when the locals got really angry," explains Trajce. "It's not just unprecedented, it's a complete breakdown of the rule of law, with no consideration for society, no consideration for the environment, no contractual permits, just bulldozers."

The demonstrations against the billion-dollar buildings continue: "What began as an uprising to protect the environment and property has developed into a massive protest against corruption, oligarchy and the way in which Prime Minister Edi Rama exercises his power," analyzes "Reporter".

Kristi Xhiveri, an environmental engineer originally from Narta but now living in Tirana, says she cannot bear to see the nature of her homeland being destroyed, as has happened in other surrounding areas.

Greek man dragged away in viral video - Athens protests

But it's not just nature she fears for, says Xhiveri according to "Reporter": "We have no water. We have no roads, no infrastructure. We have no education. We have no healthcare, and then you hear the prime minister talking about €4 billion resorts."

Flamingos over the Narta lagoon.

Image: Keystone

The resistance has now even led to diplomatic upheaval: This is due to a viral video showing a private security service beating and dragging away a protester. The man in question was a Greek man who had received medical treatment at the embassy in Tirana on May 30.

"We emphasize the need for full respect for the rule of law, including the protection of the rights and property of the members of the Greek national minority," the Foreign Ministry in Athens announced after the incident, calling for the protection of nature with a view to Albania's accession to the EU.

Will Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump still make their real estate dreams come true? Not necessarily: The duo also wanted to make a similar investment in Serbia, but they backed out in December 2025 - following protests from the population and allegations of corruption.