The Trump family’s plans for a $500 million luxury hotel project in Serbia, intended to be built on the site of a former Defense Ministry building, has encountered a setback due to a forgery scandal involving the Serbian government. The key document that was used to support the deal was revealed to be fabricated by officials.
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, and his business partners had intended to construct a luxury residential and commercial complex on the empty compound, including a Trump International Hotel, which would have been the first in Europe.
Goran Vasic, the head of the Serbian agency responsible for protecting cultural monuments, admitted to authorities that he had forged a government document to allow the demolition of the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defense headquarters and its replacement with a Trump hotel.
The project gained tentative approval from the Serbian government last year, even before the government officially revoked the site’s protected historic status. The complex had been damaged in a 1999 bombing campaign by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Serbian government officials now claim that Mr. Vasic fabricated an expert opinion to justify removing the site’s cultural heritage status. He faces charges of abuse of office and forgery of official documents.
Affinity Partners, Mr. Kushner’s company, stated that they had no role in the review of the site’s cultural status. With the project’s fate now uncertain, no work has begun at the site.
The prospect of a historic complex being demolished and replaced with a luxury hotel benefiting the American president has sparked outrage in Serbia. Opposition leaders are using the forged document as evidence of a special deal for the Trump and Kushner family businesses.
Eric Trump, the president’s son, expressed excitement about the project in January, stating that it will bring the family together. The project has also faced opposition from protests in Belgrade, which have been part of nationwide demonstrations against the Serbian government’s corruption.
Ethics lawyers have expressed concern about the project’s involvement of foreign governments in the Trump family’s business deals. They argue that this involvement creates the appearance of corruption or special treatment for the president’s family.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/us/politics/trump-kushner-hotel-serbia.html
