Ivanka Trump has always said she wouldn’t follow her father everywhere. But it turns out, she might be taking a page from his playbook in at least one surprising way.
Just weeks after the first daughter insisted she had no interest in getting dragged back into the political chaos that surrounds her father’s world, she’s making headlines for a completely different, yet very familiar move. Real estate development.
#Albania‘s largest island, Sazan Island, is set to be developed by Ivanka Trump.
‘We have this 1400-acre island in the Mediterranean and we’re bringing in the best architects… It’s gonna be extraordinary.’ pic.twitter.com/fdyMgVJjAZ
— Team Albanians (@TeamAlbanians) July 5, 2024
Ivanka was a key figure in her dad’s first White House stint. She served as senior advisor and public face of the administration’s family-friendly PR. This time, she’s made it clear she’s done with that world.
Speaking to Fox & Friends earlier this year, she didn’t mince words about the toll it took.
“I love policy and impact. I hate politics. And unfortunately, the two are not separable. There is a darkness to that world that I don’t really want to welcome into mine,” she explained.
“The main reason I am not going back to serve now is I know the cost, and it’s a price that I’m not willing to make my kids bear.”
It was a pretty firm no.
But while she might be steering clear of campaign rallies and Cabinet meetings, Ivanka seems to be embracing another classic Trump family tradition: big, ambitious, headline-grabbing property development.
Her father, after all, spent decades building his empire on flashy real estate deals. Donald Trump got his start in the 70s as a real estate developer, eventually rebranding the family business into the Trump Organization. He made his name with skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses bearing the Trump name in gold letters.
Now, Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner appear to be trying their own version of that strategy, with a plan that’s ambitious even by Trump standards.
According to The New York Times, the couple has set their sights on turning an abandoned Soviet-era weapons base on Albania’s Sazan Island into a high-end resort. The cost? Up to $1.4 billion.
Yes, billion.
Oh.
It seems like the locals in Albania aren’t too happy with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Residents of the small island of Sazan are accusing the pair of trying to take their land (which is subject to several disputes).
A member of the Albanian parliament claims that a… pic.twitter.com/7hwr3TSuJG
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) September 7, 2024
The plan is to transform the 1,400-acre island, still littered with buried, unexploded weapons, into an ultra-luxury destination. And they’ve already received preliminary approval from the Albanian government.
This wouldn’t be Jared Kushner’s first real estate rodeo. His family owns a significant portfolio of commercial, residential, and retail properties in and around New York. But this would mark the couple’s first foray into a resort of this scale.
Last year, Ivanka’s representatives hyped up the ambition, promising the team was working with “the best architects and the best brands” to turn the neglected site into something “extraordinary.”
Even Albania’s president sounded enthusiastic. He told The Guardian, “We can’t afford not to exploit a gift like Sazan,” adding: “We need luxury tourism like a desert needs water.”
So while Ivanka Trump is skipping out on campaign trails and Oval Office briefings, she seems perfectly happy to lean into another Trump legacy. Big, risky, and very glamorous real estate deals. And in true Trump style, she’s making sure the world is watching.
