Ivana Trump, a skier-turned-businesswoman who formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s as the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his oldest children, has died in New York City, her family announced Thursday. She was 73.
“I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” Trump posted on his social media app, Truth Social. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!”
Their children also released a statement, calling her "an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor.
“She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement continued. “She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.”
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A New York City official said she was found dead inside her home on East 64th Street earlier Thursday. There’s no indication of foul play and her body will be taken to a medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of death, the official said.
A Czech-born ski racer and sometime model, Ivana Trump married the future president in 1977.
She became an icon in her own right, dripping with ’80s style and elegance, complete with her signature beehive hairdo. She influenced the look of the over-the-top Patsy Stone in the classic British sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous,” with the character extolling Ivana as “tremendous” in one episode.
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Trump herself would eventually appear in the 1996 hit film “The First Wives Club” with the now-famous line, “Ladies, you have to be strong and independent, and remember, don’t get mad, get everything.”
The Trumps became partners in love and business, with Ivana playing roles such as manager of one of his Atlantic City casinos. She worked tirelessly there and also had a hand in making Trump Tower an image of ’80s success, helping the decorator and taking a strong interest in such details as the doormen’s uniforms, said Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization executive who was in charge of the skyscraper’s construction.
“She did all that to impress Donald, to win his approval. She was traveling back and forth all the time, and leaving her kids. She had a tremendous work ethic.”
The two were fixtures of New York's see-and-be-seen scene before their equally public, and messy, 1992 divorce. Donald Trump had met his next wife, Marla Maples.
During the split, Ivana Trump accused him of rape in a sworn statement in the early 1990s. She later said that she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she felt violated.
Donald Trump would say at times that he regretted having Ivana join him in business and blamed it for the unraveling of his marriage.
“I think that putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing,” he told ABC News in the early ’90s. “If you’re in business for yourself, I really think it’s a bad idea to put your wife working for you,” he said, complaining that when she turned into a businessperson, “a softness disappeared.”
Nevertheless, Ivana ultimately remained friendly with her ex-husband, whom she famously called “The Donald.” She enthusiastically backed his 2016 White House run, saying he would “make big changes” in the United States, and told the New York Post that she was giving him suggestions on his campaign.
“We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought,” she said. She said she advised him to “be more calm.”
“But Donald cannot be calm,” she added. “He’s very outspoken. He just says it as it is.”
However supportive, she occasionally ruffled feathers.
In 2017, while promoting a book, she told “Good Morning America” that she spoke with the then-president about every two weeks and had his direct White House number, but didn’t want to call to frequently “because Melania is there and I don’t want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I’m basically first Trump wife, OK?” she said with a laugh. “I’m first lady, OK?”
Melania Trump’s spokesperson at the time responded, saying there was “clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.”
Ivana Trump had continued her business ventures in recent years, promoting an Italian weight-loss diet in 2018.
“Health is the most important thing we have. Let’s keep it that way,” she said at the time.
Ivana Trump's death came during a fraught week for the Trump family. Two of her children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, and the former president are due to appear in coming days for questioning in the New York attorney general's civil investigation into the family’s business practices.
Ivana Trump was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, formerly Zlin, which had just been renamed by the Communists who took over the country in 1948.
She was married four times, most recently to Italian actor Rossano Rubicondi. The two divorced in 2009 after a year of marriage but continued to see each other off and on until 2019, when she told the New York Post the relationship had run its course. He died last year of cancer at 49.
Associated Press writer Bernard Condon contributed to this report.
