Ivana Trump, the first wife of former president Donald Trump and mother of his three oldest children, who helped her husband build some of his signature buildings including Trump Tower, has died in New York City at age 73, her family announced on Thursday (local time).
Key points:
- The Fire Department of New York responded to a call for cardiac arrest and found a 73-year-old woman dead in the Upper East Side apartment in which she lived
- The Czech-born married the future president in 1977 and divorced in 1992
- She is being remebered by her family as a "survivor" who "fled from communisum"
"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 posted on Truth Social.
The couple married in 1977 and divorced in 1992.
They had three children together.
The Trump family has not released the cause of her death, but the New York Post reported she suffered cardiac arrest in her Manhattan apartment and was dead by the time paramedics arrived on Thursday, local time, citing unnamed police sources.
The Fire Department of New York said it could not reveal identities but did say in a statement that paramedics responded to a call for cardiac arrest and found a 73-year-old woman dead in the Upper East Side apartment where Ivana Trump lived on Thursday.
In his post, Mr Trump added: "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!"
“It’s been a very sad day, a very sad day,” Eric Trump said as he left his mother’s home near Central Park.
In a statement, he and his siblings called her "an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty and caring mother and friend," and a survivor.
"She fled from communism and embraced this country," the three said in a statement.
"She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination."
"Ivana Trump was a survivor."
"She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and 10 grandchildren."
The Czech-born ski racer and sometime model was first known for marrying Mr Trump but became an icon in her own right, dripping with 1980s' style and elegance, complete with accent and her signature beehive hairdo.
She would eventually appear in the 1996 hit film The First Wives Club — alongside Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton — with her now-famous line: "Ladies, you have to be strong and independent, and remember — don't get mad, get everything."
Partners in love and business, Ivana played a key role in Trump media success
In the 1980s, Donald and Ivana were one of New York City's most-prominent power couples.
And Ivana played a huge role in building up the Trump media image.
While Mr Trump took the credit for his early success breaking into the highly competitive Manhattan real estate market, Ivana worked alongside her husband in developing Trump Tower, his signature building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
She also managed the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the Times said.
Ivana overruled the architects to get a 60-foot waterfall installed in Trump Tower's atrium, and she went to an Italian quarry to pick out the rosy-beige Breccia Pernice marble that famously lines its floors and walls, according to Donald Trump biographer Wayne Barrett.
Barbara Res, a former Trump Organisation executive who was in charge of the skyscraper's construction, recalled Ivana helping the decorator and taking a strong interest in such details as the doormen's uniforms.
"She did all that to impress Donald, to win his approval," Res said.
"She was travelling back and forth all the time, and leaving her kids."
"She had a tremendous work ethic."
The two were fixtures of New York's see-and-be-seen scene before their equally public, messy divorce after Donald Trump met his next wife, Marla Maples.
"I couldn't turn on the television without hearing my name," Ivana Trump wrote in her book.
During the split, Ivana Trump accused him of rape in a sworn statement in the early 1990s.
She later said that she didn't mean it literally, but rather that she felt violated.
Nevertheless, she ultimately remained friendly with her ex-husband, whom she famously called "The Donald".
She enthusiastically backed his 2016 White House run and told the New York Post in 2016 that she was both a supporter and an adviser.
"I suggest a few things," she told the paper.
"We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought."
She said she advised him to "be more calm."
"But Donald cannot be calm," she added. "He's very outspoken. He just says it as it is."
In 2017, while promoting a book, she told Good Morning America that she spoke with the then-president about every two weeks and had his direct White House number, but didn't want to call too frequently "because Melania is there and I don't want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I'm basically first Trump wife, OK?" she said with a laugh.
"I'm first lady, OK?"
Melania Trump's spokesperson at the time responded, saying there was "clearly no substance to this statement from an ex, this is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise".
She was born Ivana Zelníčková in 1949, in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov — the former city of Zlin that had just been renamed by the Communists, who took over the country in 1948.
Ivana was married four times, most recently to Italian actor Rossano Rubicondi.
AP/Reuters