Ivana Trump dead at age 73 from cardiac arrest

Ivana Trump, the first wife of former US President Donald Trump, has died aged 73 of a suspected cardiac arrest.

Ivana Trump, the first wife of former US President Donald Trump, has died aged 73 of a suspected cardiac arrest.

She was discovered at the bottom of a staircase in her home on 10 East 64th Street in Manhattan at 12.40pm, police sources told the NY Post.

Authorities believe she suffered cardiac arrest, but the official cause of death has yet to be determined. She was found by cops who were called to her home for a wellness check, police said.

Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating.

“Your heart’s electrical system controls the rate and rhythm of its pumping. A cardiac arrest is usually caused by an electrical malfunction in your heart’s electrical system that causes your heart to stop pumping,” the Heart Foundation says.

“Certain heart conditions and events can lead to cardiac arrest if they cause a life-threatening arrhythmia (heart rhythm problem). Although heart disease is a common cause of many cardiac arrests, they may also be caused by trauma, respiratory (breathing) problems, drowning, electrocution or allergic reactions. Sometimes there’s no identifiable cause of a cardiac arrest.”

Ivana Trump has died age 73. Picture: ABC News America

The news was shared on Thursday night local time by her children, Donald Jr, Ivanka 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.”

A source close to Ivanka Trump told The Post the former first daughter is in “shock” over her mother’s death.

“They were super close,” the source said, adding that Ivana had spent her last days with family in New York City.

Former President Trump shared the news himself on his social network Truth Social.

“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.

Born in former Czechoslovakia under communist rule, Ivana moved to Canada in the 1970s, where she briefly worked as a model.

Multiple accounts exist around how her and Mr Trump met, however, The New York Times reports they were introduced at a “party in Montreal”.

Ivanka and Ivana Trump pictured in 2001. Picture: Vanina Lucchesi/AFP

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.

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.

Known as one of high society’s most distinguished couples at the time, their separation was well-documented in the media. Ivana received $US14 million ($20.74 million) as a result of her divorce proceedings.

Ivana Trump was the mother of Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump. Picture: ABC News America

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 $US650,000 ($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.’”

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.

— with NY Post