Trump family scores permit for private resort on Albania’s hidden island
US President Donald Trump with his daughter (Photo: Getty Images)
Donald Trump’s family plans to transform Albania’s Sazan Island, a former military base, into a luxury resort despite ecological risks and criticism, according to Le Monde.
Using his connections at the intersection of politics and business, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, secured permission from Albanian authorities to build the luxury resort on this Mediterranean island, which lies within a protected conservation area.
Nearby, in the coastal town of Zvërnec, another complex is planned - a pair to the island resort. Kushner’s team says it will represent the yin and yang of the Albanian coast, where the Ionian and Adriatic Seas meet.
Albanian authorities have already described the island as having the potential to become a Mediterranean Dubai.
Although the state retains ownership of the island, investors were granted ten-year tax incentives.
The location has already been nicknamed Trump Island, and the Albanian government is eager to showcase its ties with the American elite, hoping for a tourism boom and financial inflows.
However, not everyone welcomes the investment project. Environmentalists are raising alarms due to the region’s unique flora, the migration of pink flamingos, and the fact that parts of the area remain uncleared of mines. Despite this, Kushner’s engineers are already working on the island, collecting data ahead of construction.
Residents, despite the risks, hope that the arrival of the Trump resort will create jobs in a country where the average salary is around €700.
What is known about Sazan Island
Sazan Island, located off the Albanian coast at the junction of the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, remained a restricted area for decades as it was a strategic military base during the Cold War. Underground tunnels, bunkers, and other defense infrastructure still exist on the island, some of which remain uncleared of mines.
Today, the uninhabited island is being considered by the Albanian authorities as a promising tourist destination, with the potential to become a luxury new resort in the Balkans.
For the first time in history, the Pentagon allowed another country to deploy a military facility on US territory.
Additionally, in early October, Trump signed an executive order guaranteeing security for Qatar, pledging diplomatic, economic, and military support for the ally - an action following a recent Israeli airstrike on Doha.
