Ivana Trump, the ex-wife of former US president Donald Trump, has died at age 73.
Manhattan paramedics responded to a call of cardiac arrest at her residence on New York City’s Upper East Side at 12:30 pm, the FDNY said in a statement.
“Ivana Trump was a survivor,” a statement from the Trump family said. “She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children & 10 grandchildren.”
Donald Trump announced his ex-wife’s death on his social media outlet, 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,” Trump said in the post. “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!”
Ivana Marie Zelníčková was born in Czechoslovakia before immigrating to Canada and eventually the US in the 1970s. She was working as a model when she met Donald Trump in 1976, and the two married the following year.
They divorced in 1992 following Donald Trump’s affair with his eventual second wife, Marla Maples. Ivana Trump wrote in her 2017 book Raising Trump that the affair came as a surprise.
“This young blonde woman approached me out of the blue and said ‘I’m Marla, and I love your husband. Do you?’” she wrote. “I said ‘Get lost. I love my husband.’ It was unladylike but I was in shock.”
In a 1989 deposition during their divorce, she accused Donald Trump of rape. In 2015, she walked back the allegation.
“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 a 2015 statement. “The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of.”
She is survived by her three children: Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Trump Jr.