Ivana Trump, ex-wife of former President Donald Trump, dies aged 73
Ivanka Trump has shared a series of sweet pictures with her mother Ivana Trump following news of her shock death aged 73.
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Ivana Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, has shared a series of sweet images of the pair in an emotional tribute following her mother’s death.
Ivana, the first wife of former US President Donald Trump, died aged 73.
According to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), via ABC News, paramedics responded to a call about a cardiac arrest at 12.30pm on Thursday afternoon local time, and were directed to the building were she lived.
ABC News states she was found “unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of a set of stairs in her apartment”. According to sources, authorities are investigating “whether she fell and, if so, whether the fall contributed in any way to her death”.
An official cause of death has yet to be determined by a medical examiner.
Her 40-year-old daughter, Ivanka, posted a heartfelt tribute to her late mother to Instagram, alongside a number of a childhood pictures.
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“Heartbroken by the passing of my mother. Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny,” Ivanka wrote.
“She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest — never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance.
“I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always.” ️
The news of Ivana’s death was shared on Thursday night local time by her children, Ivanka, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump.
“Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,” a statement from the Trump family read.
“Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination,” the family said. “She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.”
According to TMZ, Eric was seen walking out of his mother’s Manhattan home at around 1.54pm local time. While leaving, he told media: “It’s been a very sad day”.
Former President Trump shared the news on social network, Truth Social, telling followers she had died at her home in New York City.
“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,” he wrote.
“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!”
The couple were married for 15 years between 1977 to 1992.
From Ivana Marie Zelníčková to Ivana Trump
Born in former Czechoslovakia under communist rule, Ivana moved to Canada in the 1970s, where she briefly worked as a model.
Her first marriage was to an Austrian ski instructor, Alfred Winklmayr, which she later described as a “Cold War marriage”.
According to theNew York Times, the marriage allowed her to get an Austrian passport and move to Canada, however they never lived together. Their relationship was later dissolved in 1973.
Her second marriage – to the then property baron, Mr Trump – was her most notable. While multiple accounts exist around how her and Mr Trump met, the New York Times reports they were introduced at a “party in Montreal”.
Speaking to The Times, Mr Trump said: “My wife was the No. 1 model in Montreal for eight years”.
The publication reports they were married after dating for nine months, before they moved into Mr Trump’s residence at the Olympic Towers in New York.
During their marriage, Ivana took on multiple senior, interior-design related positions for The Trump Organization, where she was a senior executive for seven years. In 1988, she became the CEO and president of the Trump Castle Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
After their divorce, Ivana dabbled in a cameo roll in the 1996 film, The First Wives Club, and wrote multiple books including For Love Alone (1992), Free to Love (1993) and The Best Is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again (1995).
Their marriage ended after intense media speculation over Mr Trump’s affair with actor and model Marla Maples. While their relationship began while the businessman was still married to Ivana, Ms Maples has since publicly said she wished they had waited until their divorce was finalised.
“Do I wish more than anything that we could have had this relationship after the divorce papers were signed? Absolutely. With all my heart,” she said on the ABC News podcast, Journeys of Faith with Paula Faris.
“How much heartache would it have saved so many people if I had seen that piece of paper before we got involved?”
In 1993, Ms Maples gave birth to Mr Trump’s fourth child, Tiffany Trump. They would also marry that year, before getting divorced in 1999.
A US$14 million divorce
Known as one of high society’s most distinguished couples at the time, their separation was well-documented in the media. Ivana received US$14 million (A$20.74 million) as a result of her divorce proceedings. According to Vanity Fair, she also got the couple’s 45-room-Greenwich mansion in Connecticut, an apartment at Trump Plaza, with an agreement that Mr Trump would pay US$650,000 (A$963,000) every year to support their three children.
According to an interview with CBS’ Jim Axelrod in 2017, Ivana admitted that her ex-husband was still a big part of her life. She said the couple spoke to each other “maybe once a week”.
“He asks me for advice. He asks me about: ‘Should I tweet, should I not tweet?’”
“I said: ‘I think you should tweet.’”.
Sunday Morning Passage
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) July 14, 2022
Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Trump and mother of Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr. has died. She was 73
Jim Axelrod spoke to her in 2017 about how her ex-husband asked her for advice about using Twitter https://t.co/RhyIlCwZItpic.twitter.com/uacKLDQmDp
After Mr Trump, Ivana would go on to marry twice more. In 1995 she married Italian entrepreneur Riccardo Mazzucchelli, before they divorced in 1997.
She would then go on to marry model Rossano Rubicondi in 2008, before they divorced in 2009. They would continue to see each other on and off for a decade.
In 2021, Mr Rubicondi died after a battle with skin cancer.
Speaking to Page Six in 2019, Ms Trump said the “split was amicable”.
“Rossano spends a lot of time in Italy and I spend a lot of time in New York, Miami and St-Tropez, and he has to work,” she said.
“The long-distance relationship really doesn’t work. We had a good time and are friends.”
From 1997, she also dated Italian aristocrat Count Roffredo Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona Lovatelli. The pair were believed to have been together until he died in a car crash in 2005.
Originally published as Ivana Trump, ex-wife of former President Donald Trump, dies aged 73
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