Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's $1.4Billion Private Island Dream Suffers Major Setback as Locals Protest Resort Plans
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's island dream may be falling apart.
June 4 2026, Published 2:30 p.m. ET
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's dream of putting their own luxury resort off the coast of Albania may be crashing and burning, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The president's eldest daughter has found herself in hot water recently while discussing the major move, with some calling her "tone-deaf" as Americans struggle to pay their gas and groceries.
Ivanka Trump Stumbles Upon Albanian Island
Ivanka Trump and Kushner have dreams of building a luxury resort on an island they stumbled upon.
The 44-year-old was recently a guest on David Senra's podcast and used the interview to discuss the moment she stumbled upon the island, called Sazan, by chance during a boating trip with friends.
"We were on a friend's boat, and we stopped for a swim – effectively, that's how we found it," Ivanka recalled of the lucky discovery. "We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated."
Ivanka then revealed she and Kushner spent years pursuing the opportunity before acquiring the island, for a reported $1.4billion, and beginning plans to transform it into their dream residence.
"You know, it's not even a business for me, despite the scale of it," Ivanka said at the time.
Protest Groups Slam Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's Luxury Dream
The couple eventually purchased the island, for a reported $1.4billion.
The island was originally a designated military exclusion zone, and still has a few bases and bunkers on site. However, the island is home to plenty of animal life and plants, and locals are now concerned the couple's construction project will destroy a wildlife reserve to build a resort and perhaps more.
According to the Associated Press, "excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the area, "opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees, and installing fencing."
One local environmental group claimed the project has led to long-protected habitats being "irreversibly destroyed." Protesters have also brought along cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, to rallies in response to Ivanka and Kushner's luxury build.
Protest groups are also said to be concerned that sections of that coastline will be taken over by wealthy and powerful investors.
Prime Minister of Albania: 'No Chance for This Investment to Stop'
The president' daughter has already felt the wrath from online critics and protest groups over the project.
Meanwhile, Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, does not feel the same way as protestors do, claiming the project can transform Albania into a major tourist spot.
"Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, where exceptional partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros ($4.6billion)," he noted.
Rama declared, "There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here."
Critics, however, have pushed back, as one person raged, "We as a people need to stop allowing for this kind of insane wealth. The mega-rich are destroying everything. This needs to end."
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'The mega-rich are destroying everything,' one person on social media raged.
Another added, "A nature preserve is just an unpaved opportunity for those people," and a user said, "They found it by accident? Go back to your mansion in Florida. These people have worn out their welcome everywhere."
"Plunderers. Biodiversity grifting for profit. Nature ravagers," a person raged.
Following Ivanka's comments about the island, The Daily Show star Michael Kosta called out the real estate venture and mocked the awful timing.
"For those of you who are thinking, hey, before buying a private island, shouldn't billionaires maybe read the room?" Kosta joked at the time. "What you don't understand is, the island doesn't have rooms yet. They can't lay the foundation for those rooms until they burn down all those stupid trees, OK?"
