Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, was poised for a dramatic transformation. The bombed-out former Yugoslav Army General Staff building, a solemn relic of the 1999 NATO airstrikes, had stood for decades as both a scar and a symbol. But in 2024, a plan emerged that promised to turn this piece of history into a glittering centerpiece of modern commerce: a luxury hotel and residential complex, to be branded as Trump Tower Belgrade and spearheaded by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The deal, however, has now collapsed amid a swirling storm of political scandal, public outrage, and allegations of corruption. According to The New York Times and Forbes Serbia, Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, officially withdrew from the project on December 16, 2025, following weeks of protests and a criminal indictment against key Serbian officials. The fallout has left Serbia’s leaders scrambling to contain the damage, while critics argue the episode exposes deep flaws in the country’s governance and foreign investment strategy.
“I am proud of all those who tried to bring in such an investor,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić told reporters at the Palace of Serbia, visibly frustrated by the turn of events. “With the campaign and the campaign that was conducted, we managed to destroy everything... The damage caused to Serbia is enormous. We will now have a collapsed building.”
At the heart of the controversy was the building’s protected status as a cultural asset, granted in 2005 to preserve its architectural and historical significance. The development plan, which would have brought an estimated €750 million (about $880 million) and thousands of jobs to Serbia, hinged on removing this status. Yet, as DW and The New York Times reported, opposition parties, civic groups, and Serbia’s architects’ association fiercely resisted, arguing that the site should be preserved as both a memorial and a heritage landmark.
The project’s origins trace back to 2024, when Kushner, now not only a private equity manager but also a top foreign policy adviser in Trump’s renewed administration, inked a deal with the Serbian government. The terms were strikingly favorable for Affinity Partners: a 99-year lease on the prime city-center property for free, with an option to convert the lease to full ownership at no cost. The firm stood to keep 78% of profits from the $500 million development, while the Serbian government would receive 22%.
By January 2025, Kushner had reached an agreement with the Trump Organization to brand the site as Trump Tower Belgrade, a move that would have allowed Trump himself to profit directly from the project. However, the property’s cultural protection posed a significant legal hurdle. Serbian law prohibits development on such sites unless the designation is formally removed—a process that, as events would reveal, proved both contentious and fraught with irregularities.
In May 2025, prosecutors announced the arrest of Goran Vasic, acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. Vasic admitted to fabricating an expert’s opinion in an attempt to remove the building’s protected status, according to Serbian organized crime prosecutors. Despite this, President Vučić pressed on, denying any wrongdoing and vowing the development would proceed.
To bypass the legal impasse, Serbian lawmakers passed emergency legislation in November 2025, stripping the General Staff building of its cultural protection. The move, reported by Beta and DW, triggered a wave of youth-led protests. Thousands formed a human shield around the bombed-out complex, vowing to preserve it from demolition and redevelopment. “We have to respect what has been left to us as a legacy, which are the laws and the Constitution that stipulate that heritage must be preserved,” said Nenad Leibenšperger, a historian at the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, speaking to N1.
The final blow came on December 15, 2025, when Serbia’s Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime indicted Culture Minister Nikola Selaković and three other officials for falsification of official documents and other crimes related to the removal of the building’s protected status. Within hours, Affinity Partners announced its withdrawal from the project. “Because meaningful projects should unite rather than divide, and out of respect for the people of Serbia and the City of Belgrade, we are withdrawing our application and stepping aside at this time,” a company spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal.
Finance Minister Siniša Mali lamented the fallout, noting that Serbia had enjoyed “record inflows of foreign direct investment” the previous year, but that inflows had dropped significantly amid the recent blockades and scandals. Forbes Serbia even reported that Kushner’s company might seek compensation from Serbia for the failed deal.
Political reactions have been sharp and deeply divided. President Vučić blamed the project’s critics for sabotaging Serbia’s economic future. “As a state and as a nation, we are major losers,” he declared, warning that the building would now remain a decaying shell. MP Zdravko Ponoš, president of the Serbia Center party, offered a starkly different view. “The ‘General Staff Project’ was radioactive due to its corruption dimension, and that radioactivity was influenced by all of us who exposed the corrupt nature of the project,” Ponoš told the Beta agency. He argued that the Trump family ultimately saw more political risk than financial reward, and that the project’s collapse was inevitable given the legal and ethical concerns.
Internationally, the episode has drawn scrutiny as a case study in the risks of mixing politics, business, and foreign policy. The New York Times described the canceled deal as emblematic of “the willingness of foreign governments to go to great lengths to promote the financial interests of Donald Trump’s family.” The paper also noted that Vučić had sought Trump’s help on economic matters throughout the year, especially as American sanctions had hampered Serbia’s oil industry, which is heavily tied to Russian interests.
For Kushner, the collapse of the Belgrade project adds to growing questions about his business acumen and the wisdom of sovereign wealth funds—such as Saudi Arabia’s PIF—investing billions in his ventures. As The New York Times reported, Saudi officials had privately objected to Kushner’s lack of experience and the risks involved, but were overruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who saw the investment as a way to curry favor with the Trump administration.
With the withdrawal of Affinity Partners, the future of the General Staff building remains uncertain. While some fear it will linger as a decaying monument, others hope it will serve as a reminder of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage and upholding the rule of law. For Serbia, the episode is a stark lesson in the perils of high-stakes deals that test the boundaries of legality, transparency, and national pride.
