On Wednesday, thousands of Albanians flooded the streets of Tirana in the largest protest yet against a luxury resort planned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. What started as a local environmental dispute has turned into a full-blown challenge to Prime Minister Edi Rama's government.
Protesters held signs reading "Albania is not for sale" and chanted "New Albania" outside Rama's office, according to Reuters. The crowd stretched about half a mile down one of Tirana's main boulevards.
The project, expected to cost about 5 billion euros (roughly $5.77 billion), has drawn anger because of its planned location near the ecologically sensitive Zvernec wetlands. That area is home to flamingos, seals, and sea turtle nesting sites. Critics also say the project lacks transparency and gives foreign investors too much influence over protected Albanian land.
"The project in Zvernec is a project … with no transparency," protester Leand Lakrori told Reuters. "And this is the apotheosis of what has been happening in Albania for the last 35 years. So today, enough is enough."
The resort is the brainchild of Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, who has said she fell in love with Albania during a yacht trip. Reports say the plan would turn a large former Cold War-era military site and coastal land near Zvernec into an ultra-luxury eco-resort with hotels, private villas, and a yacht marina. Aman Resorts is expected to manage the project.
Protests began near the development site last month after developers put up fencing around some of the land. The fence has since been removed.
Rama, who has governed Albania since 2013, told Reuters this week that the project would go ahead and would be completed responsibly. He also pointed to anti-corruption efforts through SPAK, Albania's special prosecution office.
The European Commission has warned Albania that the project could threaten its EU accession path if Tirana weakens environmental protections.
This isn't Kushner's first controversial project in the Balkans. His firm, Affinity Partners, abandoned a separate Trump hotel project at Serbia's former Generalstab headquarters in December 2025 after protests and a corruption probe.
