The next article consists of allegations of sexual assault.

In the course of the Eighties, actual property developer Donald Trump reigned over New York Metropolis with the development of the Trump Tower, a glittering 58-story monument to conspicuous consumption on Fifth Avenue. He generated much more headlines when he bought the famed Plaza Resort, one of many Massive Apple’s most iconic landmarks.

At his aspect throughout these high-flying years was Donald’s first spouse, Ivana Trump, who would later grow to be brutally sincere about him. The longer term president enlisted his then-spouse — who died in 2022 on the age of 73 — to run the Plaza as its new supervisor. Her wage, her then-husband as soon as famously declared, was $1 and as many attire as she might buy (which, The New York Occasions estimated, might have price him as a lot as $1.5 million).

But, behind all of the glitz and glamor, the wedding was crumbling. There have been rumors of infidelity, allegations of sexual assault, and a divorce that turned out to be as public because it was ugly. In reality, she skilled some actually heartbreaking circumstances all through a lifetime of excessive wealth and equally excessive heartbreak. To search out out extra, learn on to find tragic particulars about Donald Trump’s first spouse, Ivana.

Earlier than she took on the Trump title, Ivana Trump was born Ivana Marie Zelníčková in Zlin, a small city in what was then often known as Czechoslovakia, a part of the Soviet Union. As a toddler, she demonstrated eager athletic potential as a aggressive skier. She finally grew to become a member of the nation’s nationwide ski crew. Snowboarding not solely paved the best way for her future, it additionally instilled her with a steely dedication and self-reliance. “When you find yourself happening a mountain at 80 miles an hour, you can not depend on Mama or Papa,” she as soon as advised Individuals. “You need to depend solely on Ivana.”

She left Zlin to attend Charles College in Prague. That was the place she met Alfred Winklmayr, an Austrian skier. She married him — not as a result of she was in love, however with a purpose to get a passport that might permit her to journey out of the Soviet Union with out having to defect, which she knew would spell unhealthy information for her household.

After serving as an alternate on the Czech ski crew through the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, she wound up in Montreal. As soon as she was safely ensconced within the west, she summarily divorced Winklmayr, ending their temporary, transactional marriage.

Whereas attending Prague’s Charles College, the long run Ivana Trump met her first actual love, Jirí Staidl. A famend Czech poet and songwriter, Staidl wrote her love songs and poems. He additionally had a passion for alcohol and a love of quick automobiles; in response to Self-importance Honest, a buddy as soon as famous that he “drove like he was grabbing loss of life by the ass.”

One evening in October 1973, Staidl was driving his sports activities automotive — quick, as traditional. In accordance with a newspaper report, he had “a number of photographs in him and an unknown magnificence within the passenger seat” when a truck plowed into his automobile, sending him flying out of the automotive and right into a guardrail. He died immediately. The “unknown magnificence” miraculously walked away from the crash unscathed, with that newspaper figuring out her solely be her initials: I.Z. “It in all probability was Ivana within the automotive, however she has denied it, and I’ve by no means pressed her additional,” George Syrovatka, a former boyfriend who arrange her passport marriage, advised Self-importance Honest.

After Staidl’s loss of life, Syrovatka invited the 24-year-old to affix him in Montreal. There, she started gaining a repute as a mannequin, which might in the end land her on the radar of future husband Donald Trump.

Ivana Zelníčková was 27 when she arrived in New York to take part in a style present attended by Donald Trump. They started courting, and tied the knot in 1977. She grew to become pregnant on their honeymoon, with their first little one, Donald Jr., arriving 9 months later. He was adopted by sister Ivanka, and brother Eric.

The wedding got here to a screeching halt in December 1989. Whereas the Trumps loved a Christmas ski trip in Aspen, Donald was concurrently, scandalously romancing his mistress, actor and singer Marla Maples. All of it got here to a head when Maples walked as much as Ivana, and advised her (as reported by the Every day Mail), “I am Marla and I like your husband. Do you?” Stung by the humiliation of that infidelity, Ivana confronted her husband on a ski slope — the place he cowardly skied away. Studies on the time claimed that Ivana — a much better skier than him — raced previous him and skied backwards whereas screaming and chastising him as they barreled down the hill.

She filed for divorce. To say it was not amicable is an understatement.

Whereas testifying in her divorce proceedings, Ivana Trump made a surprising accusation in opposition to her husband. That allegation appeared in a deposition, which did not grow to be public till making it into the arms of author Harry Damage III and showing in his 1993 e-book, “Misplaced Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J. Trump.”

In accordance with excerpts from the e-book that resurfaced within the Every day Beast in 2015, Ivana described a 1989 incident by which her then-husband had angrily confronted her after a painful botched “scalp discount” operation on his head. He grabbed Ivana’s hair, ripping out clumps, presumably so she might really feel the identical ache he was experiencing. He then proceeded to tear her garments off and allegedly sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, she fled to a different a part of their house and spent the remainder of the evening weeping behind a locked door.

On the time the e-book got here out, Donald denied the account. So did Ivana, type of. Previous to the e-book’s publication, Donald’s lawyer insisted {that a} particular reader’s be aware be added, that includes an announcement attributed to Ivana. “Throughout a deposition given by me in reference to my matrimonial case, I acknowledged that my husband had raped me,” the assertion learn. “[O]n one event throughout 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations by which he behaved very in another way towards me than he had throughout our marriage. As a lady, I felt violated, because the love and tenderness, which he usually exhibited in the direction of me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ however I don’t want my phrases to be interpreted in a literal or felony sense.”

For those who or anybody has been a sufferer of sexual assault, assist is accessible. Go to the Rape, Abuse & Incest Nationwide Community web site or contact RAINN’s Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Ivana Trump’s divorce from Donald Trump was notably nasty, and the New York media had a subject day; protection of the divorce dominated the entrance pages of the town’s tabloids for 11 consecutive days. “I can solely shake my head at the way it insane it was,” Ivana wrote in her 2017 memoir, “Elevating Trump” (through Individuals). “I could not activate the tv with out listening to my title.” To be truthful, the excessive profile she attained through the divorce was at the very least partly of her personal doing. As Bob Collacello advised Self-importance Honest, Ivana had discovered learn how to generate PR from her ex. “They dwell for publicity. It is like a drug for them,” he stated. “A girl getting a divorce — a girl — does not get photographed for getting a divorce … Ivana did the quilt of Vogue!”

In accordance with The New York Occasions, the divorce was granted in 1990 as a result of “merciless and inhuman remedy” he’d doled out to her. Within the settlement, she acquired $14 million — a hefty charge, however a far cry from her ex’s web value (reportedly estimated at properly over $1 billion on the time) — and hardly one of the vital egregiously costly divorces in Hollywood historical past. One key characteristic of the settlement was a gag order that prevented Ivana from saying something publicly about her marriage.

When she wrote her 1995 novel, “For Love Alone,” it infuriated her ex-husband. Believing the supposedly fictional story to be a flippantly cloaked account of their marriage, he slapped a $25 million lawsuit on her, claiming she violated the confidentiality clause of their divorce settlement. She launched an enchantment to raise the gag order, however was in the end unsuccessful.

When the mud lastly settled after her divorce from Donald Trump, Ivana Trump moved on along with her life. She relocated to London, and entered a relationship with Kenneth Lieberman — who was sadly fairly married. When he reconciled together with his spouse, she consoled herself within the arms of Riccardo Mazzucchelli, who she shortly wed in 1995.

On the time, Ivana was establishing herself as an entrepreneur in her personal proper, changing into a preferred fixture on the House Procuring Channel along with her line of clothes and accessories. Her husband, nevertheless, grew jealous of her success, and his Italian machismo left his ego bruised. As Ivana’s buddy, Nikki Haskell, advised Self-importance Honest, he “felt he was type of morphing into Mr. Riccardo Trump.”

All of it got here to a head after they took a visit to Las Vegas and took in a efficiency by singer Wayne Newton. When Newton identified Ivana within the viewers, and recognized her as Ivana Trump — not Mrs. Riccardo Mazzucchelli — that proved to be the ultimate straw. “Riccardo bought up and left and we by no means noticed him once more,” stated Haskell. “That was the top of the wedding.” They divorced, simply 20 months after their marriage ceremony. “I am very unhappy, I cry. I like Riccardo. This can be a tremendously laborious time for me. It’s extremely painful to undergo six years of relationship with an individual and to be dissatisfied or submitting for divorce or no matter,” Ivana advised Individuals.

After divorcing Riccardo Mazzucchelli, Ivana Trump was vacationing in Rome when she met Depend Roffredo Gaetani dell’ Aquila d’ Aragona di Laurenzana Lovatelli. A rich playboy from a storied Italian household, he shortly fell right into a torrid affair along with her. She would regale her mates with tales of their bed room antics. “She would inform everyone that he was the perfect lover. And he was a gentleman. And he was very protecting,” buddy Vivian Serota advised Self-importance Honest.

The Italian aristocrat even acquired the seal of approval from her ex-husband. “Wilfredo is a terrific man,” Donald Trump advised The New York Occasions (through Self-importance Honest). “I hope they each have time spending the cash that I gave to Ivana.”

In December 2005, Depend Roffredo was driving in Tuscany, on his technique to go to his mom on the household’s fortress. He fell asleep whereas driving, and the automotive veered off the highway. He suffered deadly accidents within the crash and died at age 52.

After experiencing that tragedy, Ivana Trump wound up with the person who would grow to be her fourth husband, Rossano Rubicondi. Her mates had been suspicious of his motives — comprehensible, on condition that he was flat broke and greater than 20 years her junior. She was unconcerned. “I would slightly be a babysitter than a nursemaid,” she wrote in her memoir (through Self-importance Honest).

In accordance with her mates, it was Ivana paying the payments. “Signora was a mega-financial assist for him,” Paolo Alavian, proprietor of one in every of Trump’s favourite eating places, advised the journal. “He at all times needed one thing,” added one other buddy, Baroness Marianne von Brandstetter. Their recollections of Rubicondi had been that of a man with limitless concepts and little observe by way of. “The scheme of the week,” her buddy, Nikki Haskell, advised the journal. Regardless of the warnings of her mates, she determined to drag the set off on matrimony for a fourth time. “She actually believed that if she married Rossano, he may begin behaving himself, and he would really feel safer,” Trump’s buddy, Liz Brewer, stated. “However that was sadly not the case.”

Two weeks earlier than their 2008 marriage ceremony — held at her ex-husband’s Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago — police responded to a “disturbance” at her house. The struggle was reportedly over cash; he demanded a lower of the thousands and thousands in marriage ceremony sponsorships she was receiving and refused to signal the wedding certificates until she coughed up some money. She gave him $75,000, and so they walked down the aisle. Instantly after the nuptials, the groom flew to Italy to seem in a actuality present, whereas the bride spent her honeymoon alone in Palm Seaside.

None of Ivana Trump’s mates had been stunned when her marriage to Rossano Rubicondi ended lower than a 12 months later. After finalizing their divorce, she finally reconciled along with her fourth ex-husband, and even appeared collectively on the Italian model of “Dancing with the Stars.” The couple break up up once more, this time apparently for good. “The connection simply ran its course,” Trump advised Web page Six in 2019. “We had fun and are mates. The break up was amicable.”

In 2020, he referred to as her from Italy, revealing he was in poor health. She organized for him to fly to New York and be part of her. He’d been identified with stage 4 melanoma, and medical doctors had given him only a few months to dwell. Regardless of her joking line about preferring to be a babysitter than a nursemaid, that is precisely what she grew to become, caring for him as his life ebbed away throughout his last months. 

He died in October 2021, on the age of 49. “I am devastated,” Trump advised Individuals.

The loss of life of ex-husband Rossano Rubicondi hit Ivana Trump severely laborious, in response to her mates in New York. “I feel Rossano’s loss of life sank signora. She was very, very down; we might see it,” restaurant proprietor Paolo Alavian advised New York journal.

Within the years after that, her well being declined. At one level, she fell, injuring her hip. That harm made strolling painful for her. A doorman in a constructing on her road shared his statement with The Solar. “She used to at all times put on excessive heels and stroll straight up,” the doorman stated. “After he died, she did not come out as a lot. She wore flats and walked hunched over with a cane.”

She’d additionally been consuming extra after Rubicondi’s loss of life and had struggled along with her isolation through the pandemic. In accordance with Thomas Makkos, proprietor of one other of her favourite eating places, he seen an enormous distinction in her after COVID-19 lockdowns had been relaxed. “She aged in a means you weren’t used to,” he advised the New York Submit. “She aged very quickly the final one 12 months … She appeared just a little down, she appeared frail.”

Her hip harm continued to linger, and strolling grew to become more and more troublesome for her. “We had to assist her house,” restaurateur Thomas Makkos advised the New York Submit.

In the meantime, those that knew her grew involved that she’d fall once more whereas strolling up and down the flowery staircase in her Manhattan townhouse. Pals urged her to promote the place and transfer right into a one-level house or a lodge. “I used to be extra involved about her falling down these stairs than the rest, and she or he adamantly refused to maneuver,” her buddy Nikki Haskell, advised New York journal. On the morning of July 14, 2022, her housekeeper discovered her lifeless physique on the backside of that very staircase. She was 73 years previous.

The health worker subsequently concluded that she’d died from blunt drive trauma, among the many tragic particulars found in Ivana Trump’s postmortem report. The deadly accidents she sustained had been inflicted by falling down that staircase. “There are all these photos of her on that stairway,” famous Haskell. “When you consider how you’ll finish your life, did she ever as soon as suppose that’s the way it’s gonna occur?”

Ivana Trump’s funeral was held at St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church in New York Metropolis’s Higher East Aspect. In attendance had been her three kids and ex-husband, Donald Trump.

She was buried at Trump Nationwide Golf Membership Bedminster in New Jersey. Her grave, marked by a modest gravestone, was located close to the tee on the primary gap of the golf course. Theories emerged that the location of the grave was chosen as a result of New Jersey tax code would assure large tax breaks for the nation membership if it had been used as a cemetery.

Two years after the burial, a photograph of Ivana’s grave was printed by the Every day Mail, overgrown with weeds and lengthy uncut grass. In accordance with a spokesperson for the golf membership, plans had been in place for a bigger — and presumably extra spectacular — gravestone to switch the small marker; It hadn’t been executed but, stated the spokesperson, as a result of the soil and basis nonetheless required time earlier than it might be utterly set.