'The New Jeffrey Epstein?:' Jared Kushner World Cup Appearance Draws Backlash Over Exclusive Albania Island Plan

A billionaire's box seat next to the president of the United States has become the latest flashpoint in a growing controversy over an exclusive island development thousands of miles away. Jared Kushner appeared alongside Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and members of the extended Trump family at the FIFA World Cup final at MetLife Stadium on 19 July 2026.

The high-profile appearance has drawn renewed social media attention to his $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) resort project on Albania's Sazan Island. Critics on X, including the account Shadow of Ezra, have taken to branding it 'the new Epstein island', a label that has since spread across social media. No criminal allegations have been made against Kushner, his family or the project itself.

A Front-Row Seat Amid Growing Scrutiny

Kushner watched Spain defeat Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, seated with Ivanka Trump, Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Lara Trump. Journalist Emily Goodin, reporting from the venue, confirmed the family lineup in real time, noting Barron Trump was also present alongside his parents.

The appearance came at a moment of mounting attention to Affinity Partners, the private equity firm Kushner founded after leaving his first White House role, and its flagship overseas project. Kushner's conspicuous public presence beside Trump has, in the eyes of critics online, underscored the access and visibility his family retains even as questions swirl around his business dealings abroad.

The $1.4bn Sazan Island Deal

Kushner's firm, operating through Atlantic Incubation Partners LLC, secured 'strategic investor status' from Albania's government in December 2024 for a 45-hectare luxury resort on Sazan Island, a formerly restricted military outpost in the Ionian Sea. Albania's Strategic Investment Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama, approved the proposal on 30 December, citing compliance with legislation on strategic investment and an estimated 1,000 jobs the project would create, according to the written decision reviewed by Reuters.

Kushner has described his ambitions for the site in personal terms, telling The Guardian he wanted the resort to be 'a very high-end luxury product' and 'the ideal resort that I'd want to be at with my family and with my friends'. Ivanka Trump, in a June interview with podcaster David Senra, said the couple discovered the island while swimming from a friend's boat: 'We were on a friend's boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that's how we found it.'

The venture has expanded beyond Sazan. Affinity is also developing a separate $4.7 billion (£3.6 billion) coastal project in the protected Zvërnec wetland area, and Rama's office told AFP that, while Sazan remains public property, the Albanian state must remain 'a stakeholder and direct beneficiary of any potential development on the island.'

Corruption Probe, Protests and the 'Epstein Island' Label

Thousands of Albanians have staged protests against the Sazan project and the country's Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Agency confirmed on 1 June that it was investigating aspects of the deal. More than 40 environmental and civic groups sent a letter to the government in January demanding the project be suspended, citing the island's protected biodiversity.

Critics online — including the Shadow of Ezra account on X — have seized on the project's exclusivity and the access Kushner obtained through personal meetings with Rama, including one Kushner has said took place aboard a yacht belonging to a member of the Rothschild family, to brand it a 'new Epstein island'. No allegations similar to the crimes associated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have been made against the project, its investors or individuals involved.

Kushner's team has pushed back on suggestions that political favour shaped the deal. Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development, which manages the project alongside a range of investors, said in a statement provided through a public relations firm: 'We're excited about the opportunity to create a world-class destination and make one of the largest private investments in the region's history.' Both Kushner and the Albanian government have separately said the project was not influenced by his connection to Trump, with a Rama spokesperson telling reporters last year that Kushner's interest 'makes us very proud and happy.'

Affinity Partners draws the bulk of its roughly $4.6 billion (£3.5 billion) in capital from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and other Gulf sovereign wealth funds, a structure that has separately drawn scrutiny from lawmakers over Kushner's influence on U.S. foreign policy in the region.

Whether the World Cup appearance changes the trajectory of the Albanian investigation or simply fuels another news cycle of online mockery remains, for now, an open question.