Ivana Trump, former US President and businessman Donald Trump’s first wife and the mother of three of his children, has died at the ripe old age of 73.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” Mr Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. The couple shared three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. “She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her,” he wrote. “Rest In Peace, Ivana!”
Donald and Ivana Trump were well known jet-setters in New York in the 1980s and 1990s. They were in the public eye and their bitter divorce was the subject of intense public interest.
After they separated, Ivana launched her own lines of beauty products, clothing and jewellery making her an astute businesswoman in her own right. Her products were sold on QVC London and the Home Shopping Network.
Ivana took credit for bringing up her kids with Donald and in her 2017 memoir Raising Trump, the Czech immigrant said she “made the decisions about their education, activities, travel, child care, and allowances” until college.
The Trump family praised her in a statement saying she was “a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend”. “Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement added. “She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination.”
Ivanka Trump, who was said to be very close to her mother, said in an Instagram post she was “heartbroken”. “Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest – never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance,” she wrote.
