President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has dropped his plans to build a Trump hotel in Serbia after a wave of backlash, according to reports on Monday.
Following protests and indictments, Kushner and his private equity group, Affinity Partners, rolled back plans to redevelop a Belgrade site bombed by NATO as a Trump-branded project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Plans for a trio of towers in the country were plagued by a series of predicaments, including a special prosecutor indicting a cabinet minister and three others in connection with the plan.
“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 spokesperson for Kusher's company said.
The move was considered an "abrupt end to an increasingly controversial project that Kushner—now both a public figure and a prolific dealmaker—has worked on for more than two years," The Journal reported.
Before Trump's second return to office, Kushner had said he would not return to government service; however, it appears that has changed. Kushner has stepped into negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as a representative of the U.S. and also had a similar involvement throughout the peace negotiations in Gaza.
"At the same time, he runs Affinity, a $4.8 billion private-equity firm that invests globally, and is mostly funded by Middle Eastern governments," The Journal reported. "That firm is part of a record-breaking $55 billion buyout of Electronic Arts and is helping fund Paramount’s hostile bid for Warner Bros."