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Who is Ivana Trump: The Woman Made Trump Great Begin

On Thursday, the 45th president announced the death of his first wife and mother of his three children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka.

Born Ivana Trump was born in Czechoslovakia as Ivana Marie Zelnková. Some say that when she was young, she skied in races and almost made the Olympic team.

She was a model at the start of the 1970s. In 1976, she met the man who would become her husband in New York City. They got married after a year. In 1992, they got a divorce, but she kept the famous last name of her ex-husband.

Ivana Trump has died at 73.
Ivana Trump has died at 73.
Annie Wermiel/NY Post
Ivana Trump and Donald Trump attend the 1989 U.S. Open.
Ivana Trump and Donald Trump attend the 1989 U.S. Open.
Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ivana Trump was known for her taste in the finer things in life, her gaudy interior designs, and her big blonde hair.

Her marriage to the then-real estate mogul put her in the spotlight, where she both shone and struggled. Ivana Trump was a part of New York's high society in the 1980s. Michael Jackson was one of her friends, and she was often on the covers of magazines and newspapers.

The Trumps marriage was front page fodder for the Post on numerous occasions.
The Trumps marriage was front page fodder for the Post on numerous occasions.
The Trumps divorce did not become final until 1992.
The Trumps divorce did not become final until 1992.

“You couldn’t walk down the street without people stopping her. Not everyone loved Donald Trump, everyone loved Ivana Trump,” her friend and former publicist Todd Shapiro told The Post. “She always brought her dog with her, Tiger. Tiger would sit with her at the table wherever she went. Tiger was her partner in crime.”

When the news of his mother's death came out on Thursday, Eric Trump told reporters, "Guys, it's a very sad day. It's a sad day," he said as he and his wife Lara left.

In a statement, he said, "Our mother was an amazing woman. She was a powerhouse in business, a world-class athlete, a stunning beauty, and a caring mother, friend, and colleague.

“She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren,” he added.

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

Donald Trump with first wife, Ivana, at their Greenwich, Conn. mansion in 1987.
Donald Trump with first wife Ivana at their Greenwich, Conn., mansion in 1987.
Getty Images

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

In an Instagram post Thursday, Ivanka Trump wrote she was “heartbroken by the passing of my mother.”

“Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modeled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest — never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance,” she said.

Ivana Trump proudly worked for the former president throughout their 15-year marriage. She was the CEO and president of the Atlantic City, NJ casino Trump’s Castle in the ’80s and held the role as the Trump Organization’s vice president of interior design and manager of the Plaza Hotel.

Ivana and Donald's marriage was the subject of much scrutiny.
Ivana and Donald’s marriage was the subject of much scrutiny.
Corbis via Getty Images

In 1988, she told Vanity Fair that “Donald calls me his twin as a woman” and often referred to the former president as “The Donald.”

Her friend of five decades Roger Stone told The Post following her death that besides being “a gracious lady, a great mother and an incredible hostess … Ivana was also a great businesswoman and manager.”

“She ran a tight ship at the Plaza hotel and greatly improved the performance of the property,” he said.

Shapiro said she ran the New Jersey casino “like a five-star general.”

But when it came out that Donald Trump had been having an affair with model Marla Maples, it hurt their marriage. They eventually got married and had a daughter named Tiffany Trump.

The divorce between Ivana and Donald Trump got a lot of attention around the world, and during a deposition for the case, she accused her then-husband of rape. Later, when Donald Trump was running for office in 2015, she denied the claim.

“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald,” she said in the July 2015 statement. “The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised 3 children that we love and are very proud of.”

Ivana Trump tried to take her ex-husband for all he was worth, including the Plaza Hotel. She told Oprah Winfrey in an interview at the time that “I will not let men dominate me anymore.”

Family portrait of, from left, socialite Ivana Trump, her son Eric Trump, her former husband Donald Trump, and her daughter Ivanka Trump as they sit at a table at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1998.
(From left) Socialite Ivana Trump, her son Eric Trump, her former husband Donald Trump, and her daughter Ivanka Trump sit at a table at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, 1998.
Getty Images

In a not-so-subtle nod to the breakup, Ivana Trump made an iconic cameo in the 1996 film “The First Wives Club” that helped cement her legacy as a cultural icon beyond her marriage. 

“Ladies, you have to be strong and independent. And remember, don’t get mad — get everything,” she said in the film.

Still, they stayed close with each other for the rest of her life. A family friend told The Post that she was always calling Donald Trump to give him advice while he was president. She often called herself the "real Mrs. Trump," which annoyed Melania Trump, who is now married to Donald Trump.

She says that she turned down the president's offer to be an ambassador to her home country, the Czech Republic, because she wanted to be free. She said in 2017 that she would hate Washington and that she didn't envy Melania Trump's job as First Lady.

 “Would I straighten up the White House in 14 days? Absolutely. Can I give the speech for 45 minutes without teleprompter? Absolutely. Can I read a contract? Can I negotiate? Can I entertain? Absolutely. But I would not really like to be there,” she said.

After her marriage to Donald Trump, Ivana Trump got married twice more. In 1995, she married an Italian businessman named Riccardo Mazzucchelli, but they split up two years later. In 2008, she married Rossano Rubicondi. Rubicondi was a model and actor from Italy who was more than 20 years younger than her.

At the wedding, which was held at Mar-A-Lago, the former president's daughter Ivanka was the maid of honor. After a year, they split up, but they got back together and stayed together until 2019. Rubicondi died in 2021 from complications from melanoma. He was often called Ivana's boy toy.

Ivana Trump spent her last years going back and forth between New York, Miami, and St-Tropez.

Ivana and Rossano Rubicondi married in 2008.
Ivana and Rossano Rubicondi married in 2008.
SplashNews.com

Even though she was known for living a lavish life, sources told Page Six in 2018 that she often ate hot dogs from a food cart on the Upper East Side.

George Wayne, a former columnist for Vanity Fair, said that he was "very close" to Ivana Trump. He called her his "Godmama Ivana" and said that, to many people's surprise, she was "really quite the recluse." He said that she became more shy while Trump was in office.

Her next-door neighbor on the Upper East Side, meanwhile, remembered Ivana Trump as “impeccable” with never a hair out of place.

“What can I say about her? I think her life would have been easier if she changed her name,” Broadway producer Judith Ann Abrams told The Post.

“It’s the end of an era on this block. She was always very nice to us, very friendly … I’ll miss her.”

How Ivana Trump’s ‘First Wives Club’ cameo turned her into an icon for spurned brides

Ivana Trump became a star in her own right when she turned her high-profile divorce from Donald Trump into a memorable cameo in "The First Wives Club" in 1996.

In the movie, the late wife of the former president played herself and gave advice to three women who wanted to get back at their ex-husbands for leaving them for younger women.

She told the characters played by A-list stars Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, "Ladies, you have to be strong and independent."

"And remember: don't get mad, get everything!"

Ivana's appearance came four years after her divorce, which was very difficult and often made the front page of tabloids like The Post.

The skier-turned-businesswoman went on to write a series of books about divorce, such as "Best is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life," in addition to her fashion and beauty lines.

Ivana Trump
Ivana Trump died Thursday at 73 years old.
Paramount/Everett Collection

Ivana was married to an Austrian man named Alfred Winklmayr for a long time before she married Donald. After their divorce, she got married twice more, to an Italian businessman named Riccardo Mazzucchelli and to an Italian actor named Rossano Rubicondi.

All three of these relationships lasted less than two years.

She was married to Trump for 15 years. During that time, the two of them got a lot of attention and were regulars on Manhattan's social scene. She was Donald's first wife and the mother of Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump, his first three children.

"The First Wives Club," Ivana Trump (left front), from left, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler
Ivana Trump capitalized on the divorce, prompting a cameo in “The First Wives Club” in 1996.
Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection
Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton, Bette Midler
Ivana appeared in the movie as herself to offer advice to the women.
Paramount

Ivana Trump, 73, died Thursday at her Upper East Side home of apparent cardiac arrest.

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