NEW YORK, NY – Ivana Trump, the first wife of Donald Trump, has died in New York City, the former president announced on social media Thursday.
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“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 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!”
The Trump family also released a statement.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Ivana Trump. Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor,” the statement said.
“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.”
The Trumps were a power couple in New York in the 1980s before their equally public, and messy, divorce after Donald Trump met his next wife, Marla Maples. But in recent years, Ivana Trump had been on good terms with her former husband. She wrote in a 2017 book that they spoke about once a week.
Ivana told the New York Post in 2016 that she was both a supporter and adviser to the former president.
“I suggest a few things,” Ivana told the paper. “We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought.” She said she advised him to “be more calm.”
“But Donald cannot be calm,” Ivana added. “He’s very outspoken. He just says it as it is.”
Ivana Trump was 73, NBC reported and the cause of her death is unknown.
NBC said Ivana was a former model who was born in Czechoslovakia, the former Ivana Zelnickova married then-businessman Donald Trump in 1977, and held key positions in his company, the Trump Organization, during their 15-year marriage. The couple had three children — Donald Trump Jr., 44, Ivanka Trump, 40, and Eric Trump, 38.