Serbian president threatens reprisals after plans for Belgrade Trump Tower thwarted
www.theguardian.com

... "We have lost an exceptional investment," Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia's embattled president, said on Tuesday. "I will personally ensure that everyone who participated in causing this damage is held accountable."

Vucic, whose cosiness with Russia's Vladimir Putin has left him few western allies, had personally courted the Trumps. But thousands of demonstrators have staged protests at the site of the proposed hotel and apartment building, a historically resonant spot long off-limits to developers.

A spokesperson for Affinity Partners, an investment company run by Trump's son-in-law and diplomatic envoy, Jared Kushner, which was developing the buildings alongside the Trump Organization, said: "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."

Since Donald Trump won back the White House 13 months ago, his sons have struck a spree of deals from the Gulf to Vietnam that have helped to swell the family's income to an estimated $864m in the first half of this year alone. The president's financial disclosures show that, while Donald Trump Jr and Eric are formally in charge of the Trump Organization, profits still flow to their father. ...