Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s first wife, has died at age 73, the family announced Thursday.
She died at her home in New York City, the former president said in a post on Truth Social. The Trump family’s statement called her an “incredible woman.”
“Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor,” the statement 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 and ten grandchildren.”
She grew up in the former Czechoslovakia under communist rule and left in the 1970s. She married her second husband, Trump, in 1977.
The couple had three children together and divorced in 1992 after 15 years of marriage. The Czech-born businesswoman and former model held several roles across the Trump family businesses, including serving as the former vice president of interior design for the Trump Organization. Her construction and design work spanned Trump Tower, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City and the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” Donald Trump said in his post. “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!”
While the former New York power couple’s messy divorce was quite public, the two were on good terms in recent years, speaking on a weekly basis, she wrote in her 2017 memoir.
She also advised her ex-husband while he was on the campaign trail, she told the New York Post in 2016, offering Trump tips and critiques.
“We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought,” she told the New York Post. She would tell Trump to “be more calm” and said she coined the motto “You think it, I say it.”
Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.