Trump Tower Belgrade Sparks Outrage Over Erased War Memory and Foreign Influence
A $500M real estate deal on NATO-bombed ruins ignites protests in Serbia, as citizens decry the commodification of national trauma in favor of U.S.-backed luxury development.
Watan-In the heart of the Serbian capital, Belgrade—on the ruins of the Ministry of Defense building bombed by NATO in 1999—a major political and cultural scandal is erupting under the title: Money Erases Memory. A massive $500 million real estate deal has been revealed to turn the site into a luxury complex named after U.S. President Donald Trump, under a 99-year investment lease.
The project, led by a company founded by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is now facing legal and ethical turmoil after Goran Vasić, the former head of the Serbian Heritage Protection Agency, admitted to falsifying an official document that would strip the building of its historical status—making it legally demolishable.
The incident became a public uproar, with thousands of Serbs protesting what they called a “national betrayal” and an “insult to their collective memory.” The site is not just rubble—it stands as a symbol of NATO’s bombing and Serbian resistance to Western dominance. Turning it into “Trump Tower Belgrade” is seen as an attempt to erase that memory and replace it with a capitalist spectacle prioritizing profit over history.
🔴تزوير رسمي وصفقة مثيرة للجدل وفضيحة عالمية لتداخل المال والسلطة وطمس التاريخ لصالح الأرباح!
صفقة على الرماد.. هل يتم محو ذاكرة بلغراد على يد عائلة #ترامب؟👇 pic.twitter.com/XqNeFe6jlb— وطن. يغرد خارج السرب (@watanserb_news) May 31, 2025
While the developer denies any wrongdoing, the exposed ties to Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Jared Kushner have drawn scrutiny over growing U.S. influence in Serbia’s economy. Opposition MPs have filed a constitutional appeal to challenge the revocation of the site’s historical status, with the court’s ruling still pending.
This controversy has sparked deep national debate about governance, transparency, and how far governments will go to trade national symbols for foreign investments.
Now, the “Trump Belgrade” project stands closer to an international scandal than a real estate win. Will it be realized—or will it become another battleground between history and capital, sovereignty and foreign economic dominance?
