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Since news of her passing on 14 July, it has emerged that Ivana Trump remained a confidante of her ex-husband, Donald Trump.
The glamorous businesswoman with the signature blonde, beehive hairdo maintained close ties with the former president of the United States and father of her children even after their expensive divorce.
Trump announced the death of his of Czech-born ex-wife in a statement on Truth Social, the social-media platform he founded.
“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,” he wrote. “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.”
Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide and assistant to the president until December 2017, recently told People how Trump would regularly speak to his ex.
"Ivana was a straight shooter and was always able to size up a situation. She is one of the very few people that Donald truly listened to," Omarosa, a former contestant on Trump's popular reality show The Apprentice, says. "Even in the White House, he constantly sought her guidance."
Ivana was reportedly found dead at the bottom of a staircase at her Upper East Side townhouse in New York City.
As an adviser to her ex-husband, to whom she was married from 1977 to 1992, Ivana had reportedly even told her sometimes hot-headed ex to "be more calm" during his time in the White House.
"Donald cannot be calm. He's very outspoken. He just says it as it is," she told the NY Post in 2016. She'd offer advice every now and then, she continue. "I suggest a few things. We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought."
During their marriage, they were known as one of the quintessential power couples on the New York scene, but things turned ugly after she accused him of rape in a sworn statement in the early '90s. She later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather felt violated.
“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald,” she said in a July 2015 statement. “The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised 3 children that we love and are very proud of.”
News of their break-up dominated newspaper headlines for 11 days in a row, according to People. The pair remained civil, even after she became one of the most famous divorcées in the world in 1992.
She made a cameo appearance in the 1996 movie The First Wives Club, opposite Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Bette Midler, and was known for her infamous line, "Don't get mad – get everything!"
Ivana was born in 1949 in the Czech city of Gottwaldov. Her father, Miloš Zelnícek was an electrical engineer, and her mother, Marie, a telephone operator. She later fled the communist country and relocated to Canada in the mid-1970s, before moving to the US, going from a simple girl who loved to ski to an entrepreneur who started a fashion line, was involved in several business ventures and wrote various books.
She was a model when met Trump on a business trip in New York in 1976. They married less than a year later.
In another statement, the Trump family described Ivana, who had a reported net worth of $100 million before passing, as "a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend”.
Her children, Donald Jr (44), Ivanka (40) and Eric Trump (38), have also paid tribute to their mom.
"Our mother was an incredible woman – a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend," Eric Trump wrote. "She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination."
“She lived life to the fullest – never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance,” her only daughter, Ivanka, shared. “I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always.”
SOURCES: PEOPLE.COM, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, NYPOST.COM, NEWS.SKY.COM, COSMOPOLITAN.COM
