Trump’s first wife and the mother of his three older children died unexpectedly today (July 14) in her New York City apartment. US media reports that emergency services have been called to a cardiac arrest at a house on East 64 Street, Manhattan, where Ivana lived.
The former US president said in a post on the social media platform Truth Social: “I am deeply saddened to inform all those who loved her, and there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City.
“She was an amazing, beautiful and wonderful woman, who lived an amazing and inspiring 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!”
Born in February 1949, she grew up under communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia, before marrying Donald Trump Snr. in 1977. She has held senior positions at The Trump Organization, including president of the Trump’s Castle casino resort.
The couple’s divorce was the subject of widespread media attention in the 1990s.
After the couple broke up in 1992, she went on to develop her own clothing lines, jewelry, and beauty products that were sold on QVC and the Home Shopping Network.
In a statement broadcast by ABC News, the Trump family said in tribute: “Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled communism and embraced this country.
“She taught her kids about guts and toughness, compassion and determination.”
Neither the Trump family statement nor the former president’s post named the cause of her death.
Ivana and Donald Trump were tabloid figures in New York society during the 1980s, collaborating on projects including Trump Tower and the renovation of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in New Jersey.
Ivana was married four times, and according to a biographer, Ivana’s first marriage to Alfred Winklmayr was aimed at acquiring Austrian nationality.
She married Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli in November 1995. They divorced in 1997.
Ivana married Italian actor and model Rossano Rubicondi in April 2008, with Donald Trump Snr hosting the ceremony at his resort in Mar-a-Lago with daughter Ivanka as her mother’s bridesmaid. The couple divorced less than a year later.
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Ivana made a number of television appearances during her lifetime, including in Wogan and Celebrity Big Brother.
When she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1992 after her divorce from Donald, she said, “I won’t be dominated by men anymore.”
She and the fourth ex-husband also performed on the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.
Ivana has published a number of books, including For Love Alone, Free to Love, and self-help book The Best Is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again.
She wrote a love and life advice column entitled Ask Ivana from 1995 to 2010.
A former model who once trained for the Czechoslovak junior national ski team, Ivana was instrumental in building Trump’s media image in the 1980s, when they were one of New York City’s most prominent power couples.
Their divorce, following Donald Trump’s much-discussed affair with Marla Maples – whom he later married – was tabloid fodder.
The New York Times reported that while Donald Trump took credit for his early success breaking into the fiercely competitive Manhattan real estate market, Ivana played a key role in building the family empire shortly after their marriage.
Ivana is said to have divided the latter part of her life between New York City, Miami and Saint Tropez.
She described herself as fluent in German, French, Czech and Russian and became a naturalized citizen of the US in 1988.
She leaves behind three children and 10 grandchildren.