Resignations and Criminal Charges Follow Controversial Trump-Branded Hotel Plan in Serbia

Over the last year, the Trump family has rapidly expanded its global real estate ventures, frequently involving partnerships with foreign governments, which has raised numerous ethical questions.

Among these projects, only one has triggered a formal criminal investigation targeting local officials—an inquiry sparked by determined cultural preservationists in Serbia who confronted their government and, indirectly, relatives of the American president.

Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, secured an agreement with the Serbian government to develop a $500 million hotel and apartment complex in central Belgrade. The Trump Organization, managed by the president’s sons Eric and Donald Jr., is involved, as the luxury hotel will carry the Trump brand.

In November, shortly after the president's re-election, the Serbian government removed the cultural protection status from the project’s location—a bombed-out structure emblematic of Serbian suffering during the 1999 conflict—thereby clearing the way for the development.

A group of architects and cultural historians from the state-run Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments protested this move, accusing the government of breaching legal procedures. They highlighted that revoking the site’s status as an “immovable cultural property” requires approval from a specialized team within the institute, which had not been granted.

Estela Radonjic Zivkov, the former deputy director of the institute, stated, “From the outset, it was clear this was a political decision.” She revealed facing pressure from state intelligence agents to avoid opposing the government on this matter—a clear indication of the high-level interest in the project—but she persisted in her opposition.