'Fair to say' Kushner-Ivanka Trump resort in Albania is 'dead': reporter

Stephen Miller looms behind Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at a Trump victory party in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Extremism reporter Will Sommer of The Bulwarkbelieves Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's efforts to build a luxury resort in Albania are likely dead.

Albanians haven't stopped protesting the plan since the announcement, and over the weekend protesters burned their Supreme Court building to the ground. Meanwhile, the parliament and the education department have been vandalized, and the prime minister is in hiding.

The plan was for Trump and Kushner to spend $1.4 billion to $4 billion to build a luxury resort on Sazan Island and parts of the nearby Zvërnec peninsula along Albania's southern coast. The problem is that citizens don't want to lose access to their beaches, which are part of a protected ecosystem.

Allegations suggest the president and other government officials are being influenced by investors. Meanwhile, there are residents on the Zvërnec peninsula who claim that their homes and land were sold out from under them to Kushner and Trump. The dispute centers on government actions, not on Kushner directly stealing the land.

At the same time, the environmentally protected land is a habitat for flamingos. As Sommer explained, the community's love for the birds and other wildlife on one of the islands has prompted the activists to name their uprising the Flamingo Revolution.

A New York Times exposé revealed that the project has already cleared large amounts of land and built roads and bridges. This happened even while the government claimed that everything was on pause for an environmental assessment.

While it began as an issue over the resort project and ties to the Trump family, it has become part of a larger issue of fighting corruption.

"I don't understand why this land project is not just dead," said The Bulwark's Sam Stein. "Clearly, no one wants it."

"I think it's fair to say it's pretty dead," Sommer explained. "I mean, you know, some of the payments have been frozen because of various corruption questions. Now they're calling for the president to resign. And, so, I think at that point maybe he can hang on to his job. If he does that, I don't think he's going to say, 'Now back to building the resort.'"

Stein thinks that the resort was cursed from the start.

They went on to mock Ivanka Trump for her comments about the "beautiful hectares of land" after she mispronounced "hectares." The pronunciation and seriousness of Trump prompted the men to burst into hysterics.

"And she just walked on it. It was pristine," said Stein with a laugh.

"It was like a Cold War submarine base," Sommer said.

"With a bunch of flamingos that had ended up there," Stein continued. "We had to have it. It's going to be this big eco-friendly resort. And now we have a Supreme Court building burning down because of this dumb, dumb idea. Let it rest. They should come out and say 'We're not doing this. Don't burn anymore buildings.' It's one of those situations where they started the fire. They should put it out."

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