US Senate Finance Committee chair senator Ron Wyden has warned that luxury developments planned in Serbia and Albania would give the governments of the two Western Balkan countries leverage over family members of former US president Donald Trump. 

The US Senate Finance Committee has revealed that Serbian and Albanian government officials proactively approached Affinity Partners, an investment firm linked to former US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, with proposals for real estate projects in their respective countries. 

The findings, disclosed on September 25 in a statement from the committee, are part of an ongoing investigation into the firm's foreign investments.

It was revealed earlier in 2024 that Affinity planned to build a luxury hotel complex to replace the derelict Yugoslav General Staff headquarters, bombed by Nato in 1999. Kushner presented the project to Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic in June. 

Affinity also plans to develop a luxury resort on Sazan Island, a former military base and protected marine park in Albania.

The investment firm has attracted scrutiny due to its involvement with foreign governments. The probe was initiated in June by Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, who has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and foreign influence.

Wyden’s letter asked for detailed records of the Albanian and Serbian officials who first contacted Affinity about these projects. According to Wyden, the investigation seeks to "identify the specific officials involved in these communications and the intermediaries”. 

The committee’s findings come as the US presidential election campaign gains momentum, with Trump running as the Republican candidate.

The senator says in his letter that the “prospective real estate deals give Albanian and Serbian governments leverage over [the] Trump family”. 

“New information obtained by the Committee related to real estate deals in Serbia and Albania further shows how foreign governments may seek partnerships with Affinity in order to gain leverage over Kushner and [former president Trump's daughter] Ivanka Trump,” he continues. 

"In the briefing with the Committee, Affinity confirmed that the Serbian and Albanian governments will be Affinity’s partners with direct financial stakes in the real estate developments.”

Specifically, Wyden points out that the respective governments will control permitting, local taxation and licenses required for the projects to go ahead, and they also appear to own the land where the two projects will be developed. This situation allows the Serbian and Albanian governments to “extract unusual concessions” from Affinity in the process.

Affinity’s planned redevelopment of the former Yugoslav military headquarters in Belgrade is particularly controversial. 

The site, designed by renowned Serbian architect Nikola Dobrovic, has remained as a memorial to the bombings over the Kosovo war, and is seen by many Serbians as a symbol of Nato aggression. 

In correspondence with the Senate committee, Affinity confirmed that the Belgrade project would include a museum dedicated to the "victims of Nato aggression", a proposal that Wyden sharply criticised. 

“It is wholly inappropriate for any foreign government to require an American firm to participate in that kind of anti-American historical revisionism, an act that whitewashes ethnic cleansing and genocide and falsely recasts Nato as an antagonist, and it is egregious that a firm founded and owned by family of a former and potential future President of the United States would agree to it,” wrote Wyden in a letter published by the senate committee. 

After Affinity Partners' plans in the Western Balkans were revealed, several other businessmen linked to Trump also expressed interest in the region. 

In June, North Macedonia's President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova received a delegation of executives from the Trump Media & Technology Group and other business figures associated with the former US president.  Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told TV station Telma that Trump associates are exploring potential collaborations with the country, focusing on digital transformation projects.

Earlier this week, Serbian media reported that the former US president's eldest son Donald Trump Jr., who is executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, had made an unexpected visit to Belgrade where he hosted a private dinner with a select group of prominent Serbian business figures, including owners of construction companies and banks.