Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana Trump, who passed away in 2022, is remembered as a woman of success and resilience. In addition to raising the three children she shared with Trump, she built an independent career and pursued her own ambitions.
Before meeting and marrying Trump, however, Ivana lived a far more modest life. She came from the Czechoslovakian town of Gottwaldov, where her father was an electrical engineer and her mother worked as a telephone operator. Ivana began her career as a ski instructor before eventually entering the world of modeling.
Her move into fashion proved pivotal for several reasons, most notably because it was through modeling that she first met Trump. After the two married in 1977, Ivana’s life changed dramatically. She became a mother while also stepping into roles in casino management, achieving celebrity status, and launching fashion ventures, among other pursuits.
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Donald & Ivana Trump photographed by Annie Leibovitz – 1988 pic.twitter.com/FsH0IDDOSK
— Keeping Up With The Trumps (@KUWTTRUMPS) October 23, 2025
Donald Trump Jr. was born the same year Ivana and Trump were married, after which Ivana became a full-time mother. The couple later had two more children, Ivanka and Eric, and according to interviews given by Trump’s first wife, parenting duties were not evenly shared between them.
In a 2016 interview with Page Six, Ivana said that although Trump loved their children, he was not directly involved in raising them. She added, “He does not know how to make small talk and he certainly was not going to say, ‘Oh, choo, choo, choo, choo. How cute we are today. Let’s go to the park in the stroller.” Ivana also said that before the children were old enough to talk business, Trump rarely had meaningful conversations with them.
Although motherhood kept her busy, Ivana did not abandon her professional ambitions. She credited Trump where appropriate, thanking him for providing her with career opportunities, even though he did not take on child-care responsibilities.
The Trump family wasn’t going to let Ivana speak freely to the Media. Ivana was way to open & honest about their family dysfunction, even for the Trump Media machine. Ivana was definitely a Domestic abuse survivor. #TrumpIsUnfitForOffice pic.twitter.com/WlP3iJxQ6I
— ThatsSuSFishy💙 (@JayZEmc2) August 28, 2024
In an interview with ABC News in 2017, Ivana said, “Donald gave me all the opportunity to go and prove myself. I built the Commander Hotel. I built the Trump Tower. Then Donald [sent] me to Atlantic City, and I was flying at eight in the morning after breakfast with the kids to Atlantic City on the helicopter.”
Marrying Trump also catapulted Ivana into fame and celebrity, something she greatly enjoyed. She became part of Hollywood when she appeared in the 1990s comedy The First Wives Club, where she told Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, “Ladies, you have to be strong and independent, and remember, don’t get mad, get everything.” Interestingly, the film was released after she and Trump were divorced, giving the dialogue clear parallels to her own life.
Although Ivana became a celebrity, she did not lose touch with her humble side. Speaking to the New York Post, Atilla Cetin, the general manager of Ivana’s favorite New York eatery, Nello, described her demeanor, saying, “When she’d walk into the restaurant, she always said ‘Hi’ to everyone. She never refused any conversation with anyone. She was so classy, so elegant — how she walked, how she sat, how she talked. It was like she was from a palace.”
Wire service photographers Jeff Christensen and Kathy Willens chronicled the wedding of Donald Trump and Marla Maples at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on December 20, 1993. The couple’s high-profile relationship began while he was still married to his first wife, Ivana. pic.twitter.com/Fd6NQy1rC1
— Karl Gehring (@karlgehring) December 20, 2025
Despite the positive changes in her life after marrying Trump, Ivana also bore the emotional toll of their divorce and was deeply devastated by Trump’s second marriage to Marla Maples. She wrote about Maples’ apology in her memoir, stating, “This woman broke up my marriage and took away my kids’ father. I don’t care how sorry she is. She wants my absolution for her sake! I’m doing just fine with my resentment, thank you very much.”
Becoming Trump’s first wife undeniably shaped Ivana’s life in ways that may not have been possible otherwise. However, while Trump’s support played a role in her success, she ultimately remained a woman of her own making, driven by her talent and intelligence.
