Jared Kushner's Albania Headache: Flamingos, Contested Land and Cocaine

**Jessica Mendoza** (0:05)
Soon after the end of the first Trump administration, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump went on a Mediterranean vacation.

**Jared Kushner** (0:14)
We were on our friend Nat Rothschild's boat.

**Jessica Mendoza** (0:18)
Later, at an investment conference, Kushner described the scene.

**Jared Kushner** (0:22)
We got picked up in Montenegro, and then we started sailing over to Corfu, and we spent a couple days in Albania.

**Jessica Mendoza** (0:29)
While sailing along the coast of Albania, the couple encountered an island called Cezanne.

**Ivanka Trump** (0:35)
It's an unbelievable, beautiful, 1,400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean.

**Jessica Mendoza** (0:41)
On a podcast, Ivanka Trump talked about the island as though it were an undiscovered Eden.

**Ivanka Trump** (0:48)
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.

**Jared Kushner** (0:59)
The country just had incredible natural beauty, but it seemed like a place that nobody knew or understood.

**Eliot Brown** (1:09)
What emerges from this initial visit and these initial conversations is this really large plan to build a series of very high-end resorts and villas.

**Jessica Mendoza** (1:22)
Our colleague, Eliot Brown, has been reporting on the story of this development project for two years.

**Eliot Brown** (1:28)
And so then, Jared and his partners come with this idea of just taking this cannon of money and putting it into this line of coast and making it a huge destination for the yachting crowd.

**Jessica Mendoza** (1:46)
So, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, they had this grand vision. Fast forward to today, how is it going?

**Eliot Brown** (1:54)
It has turned into this total quagmire.

**Jessica Mendoza** (1:59)
Since the resort development was first proposed, the project has triggered one controversy after another.
It's led to calls for the Albanian prime minister to resign. It's thrown a wrench in Albania's attempt to join the European Union. And it sparked a protest movement that spread beyond Albania's borders.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:21)
It has been dubbed the Flamingo Revolution, and over the weekend, tens of thousands of Albanians once again joined huge anti-government protest.

**Jessica Mendoza** (2:33)
What has Kushner said about this?

**Eliot Brown** (2:35)
Personally, he's stayed mom. And his representatives have said, basically, we respect the right of people to protest. We think we have a good project.

**Jessica Mendoza** (2:46)
And that's not all.
Earlier this year, Kushner and his partners struck a nine-figure deal to buy land as part of the development project. About two months later, the man who sold them the land was charged by Albanian prosecutors for allegedly playing a lead role in a sweeping international drug smuggling operation. The land seller's lawyer said that his client wasn't involved in any of the alleged crimes.

**Eliot Brown** (3:15)
Jared Kushner tried to get ahead of the curve by investing in the Balkans, and it has exploded in his face, and it has turned into a complete mess.

**Jessica Mendoza** (3:30)
Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Jessica Mendoza. It's Tuesday, August 11th.
Coming up on the show Jared Kushner's misadventures in Albania.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:57)
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**Jessica Mendoza** (5:05)
Before he joined the first Trump administration, Jared Kushner worked in real estate in New York City. Once Trump took office, his son-in-law served as senior advisor to the president. Kushner's remit was sprawling, but one of his big priorities focused on peace in the Middle East.
After Trump's term ended, Kushner started a private equity firm, leveraging relationships he'd cultivated with Persian Gulf monarchies. Eventually, Kushner's firm came to oversee $6 billion. Separately, Kushner has also returned to his real estate roots, mainly through his Albania project. What was so appealing about Albania, besides it being so beautiful and seemingly untouched?