Vučić pressured officials to revoke protected status in Belgrade, The Guardian reports
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić personally pressured officials to revoke the protected status of the General Staff complex in Belgrade, where a Trump-branded hotel and residential tower were planned, according to an investigation by The Guardian based on interviews and documents obtained by the publication.
Meeting at the presidential residence
According to the publication, on February 6, 2024, Vučić received Dubravka Đukanović, then director of Serbia's Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, and another heritage protection official at the presidential residence. Two people familiar with the meeting said that the president demanded the revocation of the complex's protected status, citing the interest of an unnamed foreign investor.
The General Staff complex, the former Yugoslav Ministry of Defence in central Belgrade, was damaged during NATO bombing in 1999. Vučić had confirmed its legally protected status in 2016. Under Serbian law, revoking such status requires an expert opinion and a prescribed procedure.
Lease and criminal case
The following month, an agreement between the Serbian authorities and a company owned by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, became known. It provided for a 99-year rent-free lease of the complex site. In the contract dated May 13, 2024, seen by the publication, the Serbian authorities undertook to ensure the revocation of cultural heritage status on terms acceptable to Kushner's company.
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After Đukanović and Olivera Vučković, head of the city heritage protection body, refused to initiate this procedure, they were asked to resign, according to a summary of their testimony in the indictment. Both officials left their posts, and the complex's protected status was later revoked.
Positions of the parties
In December 2025, Serbian Culture Minister Nikola Selaković was charged with abuse of office in the case involving the complex. Prosecutors alleged that Goran Vasić, the head of the institute appointed after Đukanović's resignation, had allegedly forged an expert opinion supporting the revocation of the protected status.
No charges were brought against Vučić or Finance Minister Siniša Mali; both deny wrongdoing. Representatives of the Trumps and Kushner said they did not participate in revoking the protected status and rejected claims of a quid pro quo scheme. After the charges were brought, Kushner's company said it would not proceed with the project for the time being.
