Audio By Carbonatix
Jared Kushner is facing a corruption probe in Albania, angry environmental activists, and a social media backlash that has seen critics dub him the “new Jeffrey Epstein.”
The comparisons stem not from criminal allegations against Kushner but from outrage over a proposed $1.4 billion luxury resort development on Albania’s Sazan Island, a largely untouched stretch of coastline that anti-corruption prosecutors are examining after protected land was opened to development.
The controversy may be unfolding halfway across the world, but it involves one of South Florida’s most prominent power couples. Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump have spent the last several years building a life — and a real estate empire — in Miami’s billionaire enclaves.
According to multiple European news outlets, Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Structure, known as SPAK, has opened an investigation into changes made to protected coastal land that cleared the way for the project linked to Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners. The development would transform Sazan Island, a former military outpost in the Adriatic Sea, into a luxury resort destination.
Kushner has publicly discussed how he first became interested in the project. During an appearance on “The All-In Podcast,” he said he discovered the island while vacationing aboard a yacht owned by financier Nat Rothschild, a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family.
“We were on a friend’s boat, Nat Rothschild’s, on vacation,” Kushner said, describing how he first saw the Albanian coastline and began exploring investment opportunities in the country.
Kushner also said he later met privately with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama aboard Rothschild’s yacht. According to Kushner, the meeting helped spark conversations that eventually led to the proposed resort development on Sazan Island.
Those details have drawn scrutiny from critics, who argue the project illustrates how ultrawealthy investors can gain access to government leaders and exclusive development opportunities unavailable to ordinary citizens. Supporters, meanwhile, say the investment could transform Albania into a major luxury tourism destination and generate jobs and economic growth.
As the controversy has grown, so has the public backlash. Protesters have taken to the streets, critics have called for Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation, and opponents have cast the Kushner-linked development as a flashpoint in a broader debate over corruption, political favoritism, and who benefits from Albania’s economic future.
“Seems like it should be a bigger deal that Ivanka Trump & Kushner’s luxury resort project is being massively protested, with the people demanding the PM’s resignation and firebombing homes over the corruption of their project partner,” the Tennessee Holler posted on X.
The debate has only intensified as more details about the project — and the scale of the proposed development — have become public.
The SPAK investigation comes as footage of the island and proposed development has circulated widely online, fueling criticism from activists who argue the project would turn one of the Mediterranean’s last largely untouched islands into a playground for the ultrawealthy.
Videos shared by opponents juxtapose pristine beaches, rugged cliffs, Cold War-era military tunnels, and protected wildlife habitats against architectural renderings showing luxury villas, private beaches, marinas, and other high-end amenities. Critics have dubbed the proposal “Trump Island” and accuse Albanian officials of prioritizing foreign investment over environmental protections and public access to the coastline.
The story may sound familiar to South Floridians.
Like many development battles in Miami, the fight over Sazan Island pits promises of economic growth and luxury tourism against concerns about environmental preservation and who ultimately gets access to desirable waterfront land.
Only this time, the developer isn’t a familiar condo king. It’s a member of the Trump family whose primary residence sits behind the gates of Indian Creek Island’s so-called Billionaire Bunker, just a few miles from Surfside, where the couple used to reside.
The Albania project has attracted criticism for years. Environmental groups warn construction could threaten protected habitats and endangered species in the Karaburun-Sazan Marine National Park and the nearby Vjosa-Narta ecosystem. Opponents have also accused the Albanian government of weakening environmental protections to accommodate politically connected investors.
Kushner has defended the development as an economic opportunity for Albania. Previous reports indicate the project could create roughly 1,000 jobs and inject more than a billion euros into the country’s tourism economy.
Neither Kushner nor Affinity Partners has been accused of wrongdoing. Albanian authorities say the probe focuses on decisions regarding land protections, permitting, and ownership changes that paved the way for the development.
Still, the investigation has drawn renewed attention to one of the Trump family’s most closely watched international business ventures — and to a real estate empire whose reach now extends from Miami’s Billionaire Bunker to the coastlines of the Balkans.
