“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. “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!” The Trump family also released a statement, saying: “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. “She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement continued. “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.” Ivana and Donald were married from 1977 until 1992. Here, they pose with their luxury yacht, the Trump Princess, at the 30th Street pier on the East River in New York City on July 4, 1988. (Marty Lederhandle/The Associated Press) She was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, the former city of Zlin that just had been renamed by the Communists, who took over the country in 1948. She later moved to Canada, living in Montreal in the mid-1970s, where she worked as a model. That same decade, she moved to the United States, and married Trump, her second husband, in 1977. The Trumps were a power couple in New York in the 1980s before their equally public and messy divorce after Donald met his next wife, Marla Maples. But in recent years, Ivana had been on good terms with her former husband. She wrote in a 2017 book that they spoke about once a week. Ivana told the New York Post in 2016 — when Donald was the front-runner among Republican presidential hopefuls — that she was both a supporter and adviser to him. “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.” Ivana, second from left, is pictured with her three children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., on Sept. 21, 2015. (Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images)
