Ivana Trump, ex-wife of Donald, dies at 73 in NYC apartment after fall
Brian Niemietz, Rocco Parascandola, Kerry Burke, Larry McShane
Ivana Trump, the Czech immigrant who emerged as a Manhattan social scene fixture and business partner to ex-President Donald Trump before their tabloid tsunami of a divorce, was found dead Thursday inside her Upper East Side home. She was 73.
Detectives believe Trump was fatally injured in a fall down the stairs of her apartment, perhaps after a medical episode, a police official told the Daily News. She was last seen alive Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., when her personal assistant and the housekeeper left the apartment, the official said.
When they returned Thursday morning, there was no answer at her locked door and they found the body after a building worker forced his way inside. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death.
Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, pose outside the Federal Courthouse after she was sworn in as a United States citizen, May 1988.
Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, pose outside the Federal Courthouse after she was sworn in as a United States citizen, May 1988.
“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 wrote. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life.”
The couple had three children, daughter Ivanka and sons Don Jr. and Eric, and were divorced after a 14-year marriage in 1992. He called the three children her “pride and joy.”
Son Eric, accompanied by his wife Laura, exited the apartment building around 5 p.m. and climbed into a waiting SUV.
“It’s a very sad day, guys, a very sad day,” said Eric shortly before an assistant came out carrying Ivana’s pet Yorkie, named Tiger.
Eric Trump leaves Ivana Trump's residence on E. 64th St on Thursday in Manhattan.
Eric Trump leaves Ivana Trump's residence on E. 64th St on Thursday in Manhattan. (Barry Williams/)
The children also released a statement, calling her “an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor.”
Broadway producer Judith Ann Abrams, a friend and neighbor, said Ivana didn’t appear sick during their recent encounters.
“She might have had a little trouble walking,” she recalled. “... She was alone. For Ivana, it was a lot to cope with. But she was always well put-together, never a hair out of place. She was impeccable, God bless her.”
The Trumps emerged as a New York power couple across the 1980s, when Donald’s profile as a developer and casino owner took off while she partnered alongside him at home and at work.
Donald Trump Jr., left, Ivana Trump, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on Sept. 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
Donald Trump Jr., left, Ivana Trump, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on Sept. 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor, New York. (Grant Lamos IV/)
Trump first met the one-time ski racer and occasional model at a crowded Upper East Side restaurant where he found her a table in 1976, and they were married one year later. She referred to her spouse as “The Donald,” a tag that endured through the years.
Ivana assumed a major role in the Trump Organization, serving as its vice president for interior design and later as president of the Plaza Hotel and her husband’s casino in Atlantic City with her distinctive Czech accent and perfectly-coiffed blond hair.
But the marriage fell apart when Trump began a steamy affair with the younger and blonder Marla Maples, spawning front-page tabloid headlines and creating a rift that took years to heal.
Ivana Trump photographed in 1987.
Ivana Trump photographed in 1987.
But the animosity was real. At one point during the acrimonious split, Ivana accused Trump in a sworn statement of raping her in the 1990s, although she later amended the claim to say she felt violated rather than sexually assaulted.
They did eventually reach a level of detente, even as Trump married his third wife Melania.
The Daily News reported in September 2015 that she was overheard in an Upper East Side restaurant correctly predicting “The Donald” would be the nation’s next president.
She was even able to joke about the split during her cameo in the 1996 movie “First Wives Club,” where Ivana offered this advice: “Ladies, you have to be strong and independent. And remember, don’t get mad, get everything.”
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Ivana Trump backed her ex’s 2016 run for the White House and revealed a year later that she and Trump spoke about every two weeks via his direct number in Washington.
The future Manhattan socialite was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czech city of Gottwaldov just one year after the country was taken over by Communists.
And Ivana never lost her faith in marriage: She was wed once before walking down the aisle with Trump, and twice more after their split.
