2026-10-21
In November 2024, the General Staff building in Belgrade was announced as no longer protected from development, with a tower bearing Donald Trump's name proposed in its place. The Guardian's Today in Focus episode reported that Aleksandar Vučić personally intervened to remove the protection, after which protests and prosecutions followed as opposition mounted. The tower was never built, and the Trump family said no political favours were sought or received in Serbia.
2026-10-20
Rade Bajić, a Serbian prosecutor who investigated an allegedly illegal scheme by Serbian authorities to help the Trumps build a tower in Belgrade, was likely targeted with mercenary spyware, according to Citizen Lab, a digital forensics laboratory whose researchers were analysing his iPhone. Apple told him in August that it had “detected a targeted mercenary attack against your iPhone.” The researchers called that message “a high confidence indicator that his device was likely targeted with mercenary spyware, such as Pegasus,” while saying they had not established who was behind the attack.
2026-10-15
A Guardian investigation published on 15 October 2026 reports that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić personally convened a 6 February 2024 meeting at the presidency to push for the removal of protected heritage status from the General Staff building in central Belgrade to clear the site for a $500m Trump tower. The investigation, drawing on interviews and leaked documents, identifies Vučić himself as having led the initial meeting at which the alleged scheme was discussed — a meeting not mentioned in the indictment.
Representatives of the Trumps and Jared Kushner denied any involvement in removing the building's protected status and rejected what the Guardian described as a "pay to play" characterisation of the agreement.