{"id":4700,"date":"2026-07-16T20:40:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4700"},"modified":"2026-07-16T20:40:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:40:56","slug":"dua-lipa-praises-mass-protests-against-ivanka-trumps-luxury-resort-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4700","title":{"rendered":"Dua Lipa praises mass protests against Ivanka Trump’s luxury resort plans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pop star Dua Lipa has joined the hundreds of thousands of Albanians who are not having any of Ivanka Trump\u2019s gushing appreciation for a gorgeous island and nature preserve off their country\u2019s southern coast \u2014 which she and her husband, Jared Kushner, want to transform into a sprawling, $1.4 billion luxury resort development.<\/p>\n

Read more Measure to overhaul California\u2019s powerful environmental law draws 73% support in new poll<\/a><\/p>\n

In a recent podcast interview, the British singer, whose parents are Kosovan Albanian \u00e9migr\u00e9s, called the mass \u201cFlamingo Revolution\u201d protests taking place in Albania against the Kushners\u2019 resort project \u201cinspiring,\u201d The Guardian, the Daily Beast and other outlets reported.<\/p>\n

Lipa also slammed the controversial way that the project was fast-tracked by the Albanian government in late 2024, the same year that Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump\u2019s father, was re-elected to the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I actually find concerning is the principle that the government could just change the law to remove the environmental protection without any kind of public consultation,\u201d Lipa told listeners of the Service95 Book Club podcast.<\/p>\n

CNN reported that changes to the country\u2019s nature laws were implemented in 2024 to permit luxury resort construction \u2014 \u201cstructures of excellence, 5 stars or more\u201d \u2014 to be built within environmentally protected areas.<\/p>\n

The Daily Beast said there is no evidence that Kushner, Ivanka Trump or their team of investors influenced the legislative changes. However, Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha has alleged that Prime Minister Edi Rama may have been \u201cseeking to buy political influence\u201d from the newly elected Trump by approving a lucrative project proposed by his daughter and son-in-law.<\/p>\n

The couple, Trump\u2019s senior White House advisers during his first term, want to carve out a high-end complex \u2014 with a hotel, casino and thousands of villas \u2014 along a stretch of coastline that\u2019s home to a number of endangered species, including monk seals, nesting sea turtles and more than 200 bird species, including flamingos, CNN also reported.\u00a0 The couple\u2019s plans also include turning the nearby, uninhabited island of Sazan, a former Cold War era military base, into a resort.<\/p>\n

In a podcast interview in June, Ivanka Trump described finding Sazan, Albania\u2019s only island, while on a yachting vacation with friends, almost as if she was the first person to discover it, as PBS reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were on a friend\u2019s boat, and we stopped for a swim, effectively, that\u2019s how we found it,\u201d Ivanka Trump said on the podcast, hosted by David Senra. \u201cWe swam to the islands, we went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ivanka Trump also gushed about having \u201cfive miles of beachfront directly across from the island\u201d to develop \u2014 \u201cthis beautiful peninsula with a lagoon on one side, the ocean on the other, beautiful white sand beaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the New York Times reported, Sazan is indeed captivating, surrounded by \u201cthe clear turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea.\u201d But the Times\u2019 Andrew Higgins questioned the first daughter\u2019s discovery story and whether she was really able to climb around the island barefoot, given that the beach is covered with bramble and stony pebbles, not sand.<\/p>\n

Read more What to watch: \u2018Lucky\u2019 series turns Marissa Stapley\u2019s novel into addictive TV<\/a><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the island remains \u201can oasis of calm\u201d amid nearby, heavily touristed areas in nearby coastal areas, the Times said.<\/p>\n

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But environmentalists say this pristine location has already been threatened by the arrival of bulldozers along the beach, presumably to begin work on the project. Concerns that construction is already underway sparked the mass protests in Tirana, Albania\u2019s capital. The protests have entered their sixth week.<\/p>\n

The prime minister has called the development \u201ca blessing\u201d for a nation that, more than 30 years after its embrace of democracy, remains among the poorest in the west and could profit from building up its tourism industry, The Guardian reported. Rama also insisted that the project will not \u201cpour concrete on the head of flamingos,\u201d but rather prove that development and nature \u201ccan coexist,\u201d CNN said.<\/p>\n

Opposition to the project foremost lies in environmental concerns, as well as a desire to protect Albania from becoming \u201ca new Dubai\u201d \u2014 a country of skyscrapers and elite tourism, as Al Jazeera reported. Protesters also object to the perceived lack of transparency around funding for the project and how it was approved.<\/p>\n

And, with Lipa speaking up, the opposition now has a powerful ally, according to The Guardian and the Daily Beast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it so inspiring to see how much people really care,\u201d Lipa said about the protests.<\/p>\n

Her remarks send a \u201cpowerful message to the Albanian government,\u201d environmental activist Besjana Guri told AFP, as the Daily Beast reported.<\/p>\n

Aleksand\u00ebr Traj\u00e7e, executive director of the country\u2019s leading conservation group, the Protection and Preservation of the Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA), also welcomed Lipa\u2019s comments, telling The Guardian that they were \u201cfantastic\u201d and \u201cwell-timed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very powerful statement,\u201d Trajce said. \u201d A lot of especially younger Albanians, who see her as an idol, have been inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more San Jose: Man arrested for allegedly installing hidden camera in coffee shop bathroom<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protests have erupted across Albania over plans by Trump’s daughter and son-in-law to turn a nature preserve into a resort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nDua Lipa praises mass protests against Ivanka Trump’s luxury resort plans - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4700\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dua Lipa praises mass protests against Ivanka Trump’s luxury resort plans - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Protests have erupted across Albania over plans by Trump's daughter and son-in-law to turn a nature preserve into a resort.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4700\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-16T20:40:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Dua Lipa praises mass protests against Ivanka Trump’s luxury resort plans\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T20:40:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700\"},\"wordCount\":873,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/eaa2d4a8b42c588e0275393db49a3214.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Things To Do\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=4700\",\"name\":\"Dua Lipa praises mass protests against Ivanka Trump’s luxury resort plans - 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