The island Jared and Ivanka plan to buy and develop is Albania’s largest island, but much smaller than any island in America that most people would be familiar with. There are a few Bahamian islands similar in size, such as Green Turtle Cay, Staniel Cay, or Spanish Wells (St. George’s Cay), which are virtually the same size. Ironically, the best way to gauge the size of Sazan Island is to compare it to Epstein Island. Sazan is about 20 times the size of Epstein Island. Epstein Island is so small you can walk across it in minutes. Sazan is large enough to contain a Cold War submarine base, dozens of military bunkers, a village‑sized complex, forests, cliffs, and beaches, and still has undeveloped land left over. The first time I saw photos, I was reminded of Skull Island (King Kong) or the island from the television show, Lost.

I usually give Ivanka Trump a little credit for being less insensitive than her father and brothers. I thought she was better at reading the room at a time when Americans are worried about the cost of groceries and gas. I was caught off guard to see her bragging about the project.

“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. We developed the opportunity to help realise its potential and transform it, but with a lot of restraint and care because the land is so beautiful.”

Before 2024, Sazan Island was part of Albania’s Karaburun–Sazan Marine National Park, a strictly protected area where large‑scale development was prohibited. In 2024, the Albanian government reclassified parts of the island, reducing its protected status and opening the door for luxury tourism projects — a change now under investigation by the country’s anti‑corruption agency.

The proposal has prompted demonstrations in the Albanian capital, Tirana, and on the nearby Zvernec peninsula. Social media users responding to Trump’s podcast appearance repeated slogans including “Albania is not for sale” and “Hands off Albanian soil”.

The development has received strong backing from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. In 2024, Rama said:

“Albania can’t afford not to exploit a gift like Sazan, We need luxury tourism like a desert needs water.”

Rama described the project as part of an “ambition to create the most attractive destination of this side of the Mediterranean”.

Kushner’s private equity firm, Affinity Partners, is tied to the Albanian project through a company called Atlantic Incubation Partners, which was granted “strategic investor” status by the Albanian government in late 2024.

Strategic investor status gives Kushner’s group Fast‑tracked permits, access to state land, preferential administrative treatment, and a 10‑year window to complete the project.

This is the formal financial relationship between Kushner and the Albanian state.

Multiple sources report the following valuations:

• Sazan Island project: approx. $1.4–$1.6 billion
• Broader coastal development (Zvernec/Vjosa‑Narta): up to €4 billion

These are among the largest foreign‑backed investments in Albanian history.

According to Kushner himself, he first learned about Sazan Island during a yacht trip with financier Nat Rothschild, who introduced him to the site and facilitated meetings with Albanian officials.

Kushner and Ivanka Trump met with Prime Minister Edi Rama, regional officials in Vlora, and architects and investors connected to the project. These meetings helped secure government support and the strategic investor designation.

The Albanian Government approved the project shortly after Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024 and granted strategic investor status. They opened protected land for development (now under investigation by SPAK). This creates a direct financial tie between Kushner’s investment vehicle and the Albanian state. Although Kushner is the public face, the project also involves Power International Holding (Qatar) — co-owner of the Zvernec project and a company called Sazan Real Estate Development (named in PR statements, though AFP could not find legal registration).

Qatar has financially supported multiple Kushner ventures: first indirectly rescuing his 666 Fifth Avenue property, and later investing in his private‑equity firm, Affinity Partners, which is now tied to the Albania resort project.

Kushner is currently acting as an informal Middle East peace negotiator for President Trump while simultaneously running a private equity fund financed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE — creating an unprecedented overlap between active diplomacy and ongoing foreign business interests.

Albania is politically aligned with the U.S. but economically dependent on Europe. While the U.S. now imposes a 10–15% tariff on Albanian goods — with additional penalties possible — these tariffs have only a small impact on Albania’s overall economy because U.S. trade represents a tiny share of its market.

When completed, the “luxury tourism resort” will include High‑End Hotels & Branded Resorts. Ivanka said on the Lex Fridman podcast that they are bringing in “the best architects and the best brands” for a world-class luxury destination. This implies multiple hotel structures, likely in the 5‑star category.

The project is valued at $1.4 billion, which strongly suggests private villas, branded residences, and high‑end rental units. These are typical of large‑scale Mediterranean luxury developments.

Because Sazan is only accessible by sea today, the resort will almost certainly include a marina for yachts, upgraded docks, and water‑taxi or ferry terminals.

This aligns with Albania’s stated goal of attracting “luxury tourism.” Guests visiting Sazan Island will fly into the new Vlora International Airport and then reach the island by resort-operated boat or private marina transfer, since Sazan has no airport and can only be accessed by sea.

Albania’s anti‑corruption prosecutors have frozen the bank accounts of a Qatari‑owned company tied to his Sazan Island resort project, as part of an investigation triggered amid nationwide protests in Albania. The Albanian citizenry didn’t approve of the secret deals to change the island’s environmental status and to sell part of their nation to a private entity. Don’t worry, none of Jared and Ivanka’s money has been touched. In fact, there is no evidence that any of Jared and Ivanka’s personal money is being used at all.

The simplest way to defuse a conflict‑of‑interest scandal is to pretend there isn’t one. When the optics get messy, when the timelines overlap a little too neatly, when the same governments funding your private ventures are the ones you’re now helping negotiate peace with — the easiest solution is theatrical transparency. Don’t hide the project; flaunt it. Showcase the renderings, praise the coastline, talk about “world‑class architects” and “sustainable luxury.” Make the whole thing so public, so glossy, so aggressively aboveboard that no one can accuse you of skullduggery. After all, whatever needed to happen — the reclassifications, the introductions, the quiet approvals — that all took place two years ago. The performance now is just the cleanup act.

Ivanka had become the face of the project because Jared’s face would be even worse. Ivanka described the island as the sort of place that would attract “the Jeff Bezos, Beyoncé, Tom Brady, Bill Gates crowd. Ivanka didn’t promise that any of them would come, just that the resort would be the type of place they might visit. None of the four were known to have visited Epstein Island, although Bill Gates is still trying to explain away his relationship with Epstein. I thought Ivanka might avoid involvement in a project that could be deemed similar to Epstein Island, but I guess not.