A resurfaced throwback photo of Donald Trump and his ex-wife Ivana has the internet buzzing, and it’s all because of the background. The image, shared by IG account Xennialfarmer, shows the couple back in 1987 standing in Palace Square in what was then Leningrad, Russia. Trump, in a sharp black suit, and Ivana, in a red polka-dot blouse and pearls, are framed by the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum, all dripping in gold and grandeur.
The caption over the photo read: “Trump and Ivana in Leningrad, Russia, In 1987. Now you know what inspired his Oval Office restorations.” And just like that, people online began drawing a line between the lavish Russian palaces and Trump’s jaw-dropping $200 million White House expansion, a massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom project that kicked off September 1, shutting down public tours.
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“He’s destroying the White House,” one critic fumed in the comments. Another slammed his taste, saying: “Yes, I know what inspired his WH decorations… tacky taste and lack of class…” Others piled on, calling the plans “GAWDY & GOLD just like him” and “awful.” One person said: “Omg I have been saying that all along.”
Since retaking office in January 2025, Trump has wasted no time remaking the White House in his own image, and critics say the aesthetic screams “palace over politics.” Inside the Oval Office, Biden’s rug is gone, replaced by Reagan’s lighter version. Obama’s portrait? Removed. Roosevelt swapped for Washington. Gold trim now lines the ceiling and the presidential seal. Trump even decked out the mantel with historic gold urns and ornate frames. Outside, he ditched the Rose Garden’s grass for a stone terrace and teased a sprawling East Wing ballroom.
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The resurfaced photo hit especially hard because Ivana, who passed away three years ago after a fall, was by Trump’s side during those early years of gilded ambition. Ivana, the mother of Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, divorced Trump in 1990 after 13 years of marriage but remained a key figure in his life. In her memoir Raising Trump, she admitted: “Donald might not have been the greatest husband to me, but he was a good father to the kids.”
Despite their split, she publicly endorsed his presidential run, attended his 2017 inauguration, and even joked to ABC News: “I have the direct number to the White House, but I don’t really want to call because Melania is there. I don’t want to cause any jealousy or anything—I’m basically the first Trump wife, OK? I’m first lady, OK?”
Who remembers this video of an interview with Ivana Trump talking about Donald and naming her kids! 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/Is0gS4ZPzE
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) June 7, 2025
Ivana ultimately walked away from their marriage with up to $25 million in a divorce settlement. After her, Trump married Marla Maples, the woman who famously told Ivana, “I love your husband,” before finally settling down with Melania in 2005.Now, as Trump reimagines America’s most famous house, critics say Ivana’s ghost, and a gilded Russian palace, may be the true inspirations.
