But the project backed by the US president’s daughter and son-in-law Jared Kushner includes planned development of a protected natural area along the coast across from the island, which conservation groups say has already damaged the beautiful area Trump was praising.
The luxury venture has sparked large street protests in the capital, Tirana, where demonstrators carried pink cardboard cutouts of the flamingos whose habitat they say is being threatened, and a broader backlash from citizens in Albania, which has one of the lowest rates of GDP per capita in Europe.
The Europe director for environmental charity BirdLife, Ariel Brunner, said he and other conservationists visited the nature site in early May, where they saw excavators digging up the beach and trucks laying gravel. “There was no sign whatsoever, neither by the lagoon where they were cutting the road, nor on the beach where the machinery was working… there were no signs of any kind of license or permits or even just declaration of who they were.”
Meanwhile, Albania’s prime minister has insisted the project has not actually begun yet and its “environment impact is being worked on,” as he continues to champion development of the country’s Adriatic coast.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim, effectively, that’s how we found it. We swam to the islands, we went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated,” Trump told US-based podcaster David Senra earlier this week, bringing the project to the attention of many in Albania and beyond.
CNN reached out to Jared Kushner’s private equity fund about the project, but was redirected to a different company, Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, and told that investors are involved in their personal capacity.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to create a world-class destination and make one of the largest private investments in the region’s history. Our focus remains on responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation, and creating long-term value for local communities,” Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, said in a statement. “We respect the ongoing public and institutional processes, and we stand ready to move forward as they unfold.”
Kushner told an investment summit last year that while he was sailing off the coast of Albania in 2021, Prime Minister Edi Rama came onto the boat for a meeting, and a year later they discussed investment opportunities. In 2024, Kushner posted concept art for the Albanian coast project on social media.
Protesters take part in a demonstration in Tirana, demanding transparency around the planned luxury resort project backed by Ivanka Trump.
Critics have repeatedly raised concerns about Kushner’s private business dealings presenting a conflict of interest, given he now serves as a special envoy of his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. He has received significant backing from sovereign wealth funds of countries that he also conducts official government business with, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
On Wednesday, Rama confirmed that Kushner and Ivanka Trump are involved in the venture, but said it includes a broader group of investors and architects from Japan, Denmark, Turkey, Greece and France.
Rama also claimed that “there is not a project yet,” and “the environmental impact is being worked on,” when asked by CNN’s Isa Soares whether real-estate development on the island and nature reserve is ongoing.
Protesters clash with police during a demonstration in front of the prime minister's office, against the construction of a luxury resort near a protected natural area, in Tirana on June 3, 2026.
“There is not such a thing like the family of the American president taking over protected areas where flamingos will be, will be killed by them,” Rama said, adding that the developers’ group has hired a consulting firm to look into the environmental impact.
The prime minister insisted the project will not “pour concrete on the head of flamingos,” but rather prove that development and nature “can coexist.”
Earlier this week, Albania’s special anti-corruption prosecution office, SPAK, told local media it had opened an investigation related to the project but did not provide further details. CNN has reached out to SPAK for comment but did not receive a response.
Part of the backlash in Albania surrounds a change to the country’s nature laws to permit luxury resort construction within environmentally protected areas, implemented in 2024. The law now exempts “structures of excellence, 5 stars or more” and related hospitality activities.
“Usually, the fact that rich people can get away with what they want to do is something that you hide under a kind of language of public interest, extraordinary situations, and so on. Actually writing in the law that luxury resorts are exempt is quite remarkable,” said BirdLife’s Brunner. “This is one of the most brutal legislative texts I’ve seen in the environmental field in my career.”