Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner’s $2 billion move after White House exit
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have made a huge move after they opted not to rejoin President Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, are set to invest a staggering $US1.4 billion ($A2.1 billion) into turning an abandoned Soviet weapons base into a luxury island resort.
Ivanka, 43, and Kushner, 44, have spent the past year working on plans to transform the Albanian island of Sazan — one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean — into a must-visit destination for the wealthy and privileged, Realtor reports.
The couple, who both served as senior advisers in US President Donald Trump’s first administration but opted not to rejoin his cabinet after his 2024 election win, took a massive step toward their dream of creating the “extraordinary” retreat in January, when their plans received preliminary approval from the Albanian government, according to the New York Times.
That approval came just two months after Ivanka’s father claimed victory over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, and days before he was inaugurated for the second time.
The outlet noted that the project is “one of several” involving members of the president’s family and foreign government entities that Trump will be actively working with in the White House.
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Both Kushner and a spokesman for the Albanian government had previously shut down any suggestion the project’s evaluation process would be influenced by its direct connection to Trump — however, that hasn’t stopped questions from being raised over the approval.
“The fact that such a renowned American entrepreneur shows his interest on investing in Albania makes us very proud and happy,” a representative of Albanian President Edi Rama told the Times in 2024.
Even before the couple had received approval for their plans, locals were abuzz with speculation about the project, with many now referring to the island as “Ishulli i Trumpëve,” which translates to “Trump Island.”
Both Ivanka and Kushner have close ties to the real estate industry via their respective families.
Before President Trump launched himself into politics, he was best known for his career as a developer, while Kushner’s family owns a vast portfolio of commercial, residential, and retail properties in and around New York.
However, this project marks the first time the couple will venture into the heady world of luxury hotels — with multiple reports noting they face a steep uphill battle before the resort will be ready for visitors.
Having conquered the first hurdle — receiving approval from the government to forge ahead with their plans — the duo will now have to tackle the remnants of the island’s somewhat dark past as a Soviet-era storage facility for chemical weapons.
According to Italian journalist Marzio Mian, who visited the island in July 2024, shortly after Ivanka and Kushner’s plans for the 1400-acre land were revealed, it is littered with “signs depicting skull and crossbones, warning of landmines,” with visitors to the area warned not to venture too far off specific paths out of fears that they could stumble across an unexploded ordnance.
Plans to remove the remaining weapons and ammunition on the island are well underway, however, with the Albanian government announcing in July 2020 that members of the country’s armed forces had been dispatched to Sazan in order to begin clearing it of any dangerous ordnance.
After Ivanka and Kushner’s plans for their resort received preliminary approval, the Albanian government confirmed it would work with them in order to continue clearing their development site of all unexploded and buried weapons.
As for the crumbling military buildings and 3600 derelict bunkers that were abandoned on the island, the couple is reportedly planning to incorporate at least a few of them into their hotel plans.
Ivanka revealed in a 2024 podcast interview they were working with the “best architects and the best brands” to make the resort into an “extraordinary” property.
Despite the remnants of the island’s dark past as a Communist military base, tourists began flocking to its dazzling beaches as early as 2017, when it was reopened to the public after being closed for years.
According to Lonely Planet, the island is easily accessible by regular ferries from Vlore, one of Albania’s most popular — and luxurious — tourist destinations, a reputation that Ivanka and Kushner will undoubtedly be keen to transfer to their own high-end hotel.
“Once used as a submarine and chemical-weapons base by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it’s now home to an Albanian-Italian military base used to combat narcotics smuggling,” Lonely Planet states.
“In the summer of 2017, a small area of the island opened to visitors, making parts of its pristine coastline and historic relics accessible for the first time.”
President Rama made no secret of his excitement about the Trump-Kushner development.
He told The Guardian he believes Albania “can’t afford not to exploit a gift like Sazan” and added: “We need luxury tourism like a desert needs water”.
To that end, the government is even in the process of building an airport near Vlore to ferry wealthy tourists directly to the country’s most affluent and desirable area — an airport that would also serve as an easy access point for Ivanka and Kushner’s hotel.
However, not everyone is thrilled about the project, with some critics accusing the Albanian government of a lack of transparency about the deal with the couple, according to the Times.
One, Agron Shehaj, who is a member of the opposition party in the Albanian government, told the outlet: “Of course for Albania, which is a poor country, it is important to develop tourism.
“But there has been a lack of transparency here, and it makes it look like this is a private deal that is in the political interest of the prime minister of Albania.”
Others raised concerns about the impact the development will have on the island’s thriving wildlife.
Freelance tour guide Arben Kola, who told The Independent: “The way tourism works for Sazan at the moment is it helps to preserve nature, not damage it. We shouldn’t change that”.
Though Kushner has not commented on the recent reports about his proposed tourism mecca, he told The Guardian in 2024 that their plans would carefully consider Sazan’s natural environment — stating: “When people announce a development, everyone gets scared.
“Everybody assumes the worst. But once they see the plans we have, the way we’re designing it, the way we’re being faithful and considerate of the environment around us, I think that people will be very, very pleased.
“And again, with developments, you never make everyone happy.”
It is unclear when work on the resort will begin — with documents pertaining to the preliminary government approval noting officials had the right to revoke the decision pending further negotiations.
Parts of this story first appeared in Realtor and was republished with permission.
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