UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump, whose high-profile marriage was overshadowed only by a scandalous divorce, died Thursday afternoon in her Manhattan apartment.
She was 73 years old.
Police responded to a call of a person in cardiac arrest at 10 East 64th Street on the Upper East Side at 12:40 p.m., and police sources said Ivana Trump was found unconscious and unresponsive downstairs of a set of stairs.
The medical examiner has determined that the cause of his death was an accident and caused by blunt force injuries to the torso.
The Trump family issued a statement confirming his death.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our beloved mother, Ivana Trump,” it said. “Our mother was an incredible woman: a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and a loving mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled communism and embraced this country. She taught to her children about bravery and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be greatly missed by her mother, her three children and her ten grandchildren.”
Eric Trump, the youngest son of Ivana and Donald Trump, left the building where his mother lived just minutes before his body was taken in, saying it was a sad day for the family.
Ivana Trump’s daughter Ivanka took to Twitter and said she is: “Heartbroken over the death of my mother. Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She lived life to the fullest, never leaving a chance to laugh and dance.”
Ivana Trump married Donald Trump in 1977, and while she sometimes seemed to overshadow her famous husband, she was almost half of the 1980s power couple, serving alongside him in the Trump Organization as vice president of interior design
He also managed the Plaza Hotel, one of the family’s main properties.
“I am very saddened to inform all who loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” Donald Trump posted on Truth Social. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman who led a fantastic and inspiring life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we all were so proud . proud of her. Rest in peace, Ivana!”
Their troubled marriage and divorce became the subject of global public interest as Donald Trump’s affair with Marla Maples became public and their separation was finalized in 1992.
Her divorce made her a heroine for scorned women everywhere, and she made a cameo appearance in the 1996 film “The First Wives Club,” where she told the characters, “Don’t be mad, take it all”.
Ivana Trump was married four times, once before Donald and twice after.
After the divorce, she developed her own lines of clothing, jewelry and beauty products.
She authored several books, most recently called “Raising Trump,” and also wrote an advice column.
Before the premiere of “Raising Trump,” she spoke to ABC News and said she still talks to her ex-husband once every two weeks and has a “direct number” to the White House.
“I don’t really want to call him there, because Melania is there,” he said at the time, referring to first lady Melania Trump. “And I don’t want to cause any kind of jealousy or anything like that, because I’m basically Trump’s first wife. OK? I’m the first lady.”
The book documented her journey from growing up under communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia to marrying a future president of the United States and raising their three children together.
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