E-Paper
Did Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner build a private island? Truth behind viral Sazan Island claim
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are behind a proposed Albanian resort, not a completed private island they built for themselves.
Prefer HTon Google
A viral post claims Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have already built a private, off-grid island in the Mediterranean. That is not what has happened. The couple are linked to a proposed $1.4 billion luxury resort on Albania’s Sazan Island, an uninhabited former military base in the Adriatic Sea.
The project is still being reviewed and has not become a finished private island for the couple. Ivanka Trump spoke about the development on David Senra’s Founders podcast in May, describing how she and Kushner saw the island and why she became interested in developing it.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s Sazan Island project
Ivanka Trump described the project this way: “I'm working on an incredible project with my husband in the Mediterranean. It's massive in scale.”
She later said: “It's an unbelievable, beautiful 1,400-hectare private island in the middle of the Mediterranean.” She said the couple were on a friend’s boat, stopped to swim and then hiked across the island.
Her words do not mean the couple own a completed private island. Albania’s government says Sazan Island is state property.
Reuters reported in January 2025 that Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, a company linked to Kushner, received strategic investor status for a planned 45-hectare resort, with an estimated investment of €1.4 billion.
What is planned on Sazan Island and Albania’s coast?
The development is a luxury tourism project, not a private home for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. Plans cover part of Sazan Island and a separate coastal area near Zvernec, with hotels, villas and other tourism facilities.
The island has no infrastructure, which explains the “off-grid” wording. Ivanka Trump said there was no power and that the project would require infrastructure from scratch. She also said: “It's not even a business for me, despite the scale of it.”
The project has attracted opposition because the wider development area includes environmentally sensitive coastal land. Critics fear damage to wetlands and wildlife, including flamingos, sea turtles and monk seals.
Sazan Island resort status, protests and investigation
As of September 30, 2026, the project is not a completed resort. Albania is still carrying out an in-depth environmental impact assessment.
On September 29, Prime Minister Edi Rama said the project’s future would be decided by the assessment, not by protests or political pressure. Euronews reported his comments on September 30.
The dispute has led to months of demonstrations, with protesters using the name “Flamingo Revolution”. Albania’s anti-corruption prosecutor, SPAK, is investigating issues linked to protected-area rules and land transactions connected to the wider development.
The viral claim mixes a real project with incorrect wording. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are linked to a major resort plan, but they did not build a finished private island for themselves.
