RACHEL MADDOW ON “GENERAL STAFF” CASE: Serbian Government Tried to Push Through Trump Hotel Construction with Forgery! (VIDEO)

The first Trump International Hotel in Europe may never be built – and not due to an economic crisis, but because of what acclaimed American host Rachel Maddow called a “shameful” scandal directly involving the Serbian government. In an extensive segment of her MSNBC show, Maddow dedicated more than ten minutes to the current political situation in Serbia, highlighting the deepening problems of corruption, the erosion of the rule of law, and the growing authoritarianism of Aleksandar Vučić’s regime.

She criticized not only Vučić’s government but also US President Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who she alleged attempted to profit at the expense of Serbian cultural heritage and political instability. Maddow showed photos and video footage of mass protests in Serbia, emphasizing the courage of citizens persistently fighting corruption and injustice.

“You may remember a few weeks ago we were showing pictures – really striking protest scenes in Europe, specifically from Serbia. Do you remember that? Serbia has a president who is some version of their Donald Trump. The protests against him, week after week, are getting bigger and bigger, to the point where it’s really hard to imagine that president will be able to stay in power, given the sheer size, breadth, and persistence of the opposition in the country, and their message: he has to go,” she began.

The host then touched on corruption.

“These huge, impressive, and persistently repeated protests in Serbia remind us – and the world – why it’s dangerous to have an authoritarian leader. Authoritarian leaders and dictators are always, always corrupt. Why do you think they want to get rid of the rule of law? So they don’t have to obey laws – because they’re corrupt. Always and everywhere – dictators steal from the people. That’s a rule. It’s an axiom.

#BREAKING: Legendary #Maddow: "The eldest son of POTUS, @DonaldJTrumpJr, has made multiple trips to Serbia to try to shore up their very Trumpy president against [protests] that he resign…WHY…?? In the middle of the capital city of Serbia, there is a ruined building [never… pic.twitter.com/eNqhYcbdID
— Emoluments Clause (@Emolclause) May 20, 2025

The Catalyst for Protests and the General Staff Controversy

Rachel Maddow also recounted how the protests in Serbia began. She mentioned that mass protests started after a canopy at a railway station collapsed in November, killing sixteen people. Although the event initially appeared to be an accident, citizens immediately linked the tragedy to the corruption of the authoritarian regime, which triggered a wave of discontent across the country.

“Citizens immediately understood: if we had an honest government, not a corrupt one, that concrete roof would have been built by a qualified contractor, not one with connections or one who gave the biggest bribe. In a country where there is rule of law, the contractor would have to obey building codes – for safety, not bribe someone and circumvent the rules. People connected the dots: maybe you don’t care about politics, maybe you don’t have an opinion about your ‘strong leader,’ but if for no other reason – can’t we all agree we need to get rid of an authoritarian president, so we can have a state where laws apply, so stations stop collapsing and killing us?”

Rachel Maddow sharply criticized Donald Trump, his son, and son-in-law Jared Kushner for attempting to build a luxurious Trump tower on the site of a Serbian cultural monument, deeming it a symbol of political corruption and unscrupulous profiteering.

“In the midst of those protests, Donald Trump Jr. repeatedly came to Serbia to support their ‘Trump-like’ president, despite millions of people taking to the streets demanding his resignation. Why would Donald Trump Jr. love this man so much? Why would he travel all the way to Serbia to support him while the people are protesting? You guess? Exactly,” she said sarcastically, then continued:

“There’s a building in Belgrade – the former headquarters of the Yugoslav People’s Army, today the Serbian Army – that NATO bombed in 1999. That building was never rebuilt. Instead, it’s preserved as a monument, a national cultural heritage site, a symbol of the bombing. Donald Trump wants to demolish it and build Trump Tower Belgrade in its place. You know, there’s a Trump Tower in Istanbul, right on the Bosphorus, the border of Europe and Asia, but that’s the closest the Trump family has come to Europe. Their plan is for Trump Tower in Serbia to be the first true Trump Tower in Europe.”

Maddow explained on her show that the Trump and Kushner families planned to demolish the protected cultural monument in Belgrade and build a luxurious $500 million hotel and residential complex on its site. However, the entire project is now jeopardized after an official who approved the monument’s demolition admitted to falsifying a document granting permission for its destruction.

“But how do you demolish a protected monument? Well, that’s where having no rule of law helps. Somehow, they got an ‘expert opinion’ that this location was no longer protected. The President of Serbia says they consulted an expert who said – who still cares about that monument, tear it down. They used that opinion as a legal basis for approving a $500 million project,” Maddow said, then clarified to her viewers:

“So, Trump and Kushner get permission to demolish something that is for Serbia like Mount Rushmore, to build a luxury complex – while ordinary people are dying under collapsed train stations.”

She also mentioned the protest organized by citizens on that occasion, on the anniversary of the NATO bombing.

“And now – you guessed it – everything is starting to fall apart. The Trump-Kushner hotel project in Serbia has run into problems: fake documents. I quote: ‘The Trump family’s $500 million luxury hotel, planned for the site of the former Ministry of Defense in Belgrade, faces a big problem. A key document the government used to push through this project – it was forged,'” she recounted.

It is worth noting that Goran Vasić, the director of the Institute for the Protection of Monuments, falsified an expert opinion that claimed the building could be stripped of its cultural heritage status. He now faces criminal charges for abuse of official position and forgery of official documents.

“So, wherever the rule of law still exists – and ‘those kids who keep messing around’ – perhaps in the end, the Trump Tower in Europe will never be built after all,” Rachel Maddow said, concluding:

“Isn’t it interesting how corruption works quickly, efficiently, smoothly… until it breaks. And then people wake up, realize what’s happening, and find a way to stop it. And as that country continues to march, to protest, peacefully but persistently – it’s hard not to believe that in the end, they will win. I mean, just look at the ‘geniuses’ they’re fighting against.”

While those in power negotiate behind closed doors, people on the streets demonstrate that justice and truth have not lost their strength. The world is watching, reacting, and reporting – and that is a sign that the struggle in which Serbian citizens are participating has both visibility and weight.