When the late Ivana Trump spoke publicly about her ex-husband Donald’s subsequent marriages, she made her preferences crystal clear. In a revealing interview with CBS’s Sunday Morning, Trump’s first wife expressed a stark distinction between Melania Trump and Marla Maples, declaring one to be a nobody while acknowledging the other’s position as first lady. The interview, which took place before Ivana’s death in July 2022 at age 73, offered a rare glimpse into the complicated relationships within the Trump family and the lingering resentment from one of New York’s most contentious divorces.
Ivana Trump’s assessment of Marla Maples was unequivocal and harsh. When pressed about Trump’s second wife during the CBS interview, she flatly refused to discuss Maples by name. Ivana dismissed her as a showgirl who had never accomplished anything significant in life, making clear that even decades after their divorce, certain wounds remained unhealed. The bitterness stemmed from the very public affair between Trump and Maples in the 1990s that destroyed Ivana’s marriage and became tabloid fodder across New York.
The confrontation that marked the end of Ivana’s marriage took place during a ski trip to Aspen in 1989. In her memoir “Raising Trump,” Ivana recounted the shocking encounter when a young blonde woman approached her directly. Maples reportedly told Ivana that she loved Donald Trump and asked whether Ivana loved him too. Ivana wrote that she told Maples to get lost, acknowledging the response was unladylike but explaining she had been in complete shock. The incident proved fatal to the marriage, with Ivana filing for divorce the following year.
When the CBS correspondent noted that Ivana seemed to fault Maples for the affair while exonerating Trump, she confirmed the observation. Ivana suggested that women constantly threw themselves at her former husband, noting that Trump received thousands of business cards from women every night and could choose any woman he wanted. She characterized Maples as someone who was flirting and simply got away with it, effectively placing the blame squarely on the other woman rather than on Trump’s decision to engage in the affair.
In contrast, Ivana expressed no issues whatsoever with Melania Trump, who became the third Mrs. Trump and eventually served as first lady during both of Trump’s presidential terms. Melania’s position and status appeared to grant her a level of respect in Ivana’s eyes that Maples never received. The acceptance may have also been strategic, as maintaining civil relationships benefited the three children Ivana shared with Trump.
Ivana and Trump were together as a married couple from 1977 to 1990 (divorce officially finalized in 1992), during which time they became fixtures of New York society and she played a crucial role in his business empire. She became CEO and president of the Trump Castle Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, demonstrating her business acumen beyond her socialite reputation. The couple raised three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. Despite the acrimonious nature of their divorce proceedings, Ivana and Trump maintained a functional relationship for decades afterward, united by their shared children.
Trump married Maples in 1993, and their relationship lasted until 1999. The couple shared one daughter, Tiffany Trump. Years after his divorce from Maples, Trump expressed some form of regret over the affair in a 1994 interview. He praised Ivana and the life they had built together, suggesting that perhaps their marriage might still be continuing if not for his involvement with Maples. Trump characterized his former life with Ivana as having a beautiful girlfriend, a beautiful wife, and beautiful everything, describing it as a bowl of cherries.
Trump met Melania in 1998 while still navigating divorce proceedings with Maples. After an on-and-off courtship, Trump proposed to Melania at the Met Gala in 2004. The couple married in Palm Beach, Florida, at a ceremony attended by numerous high-profile figures. When Trump became president in 2017, Melania made history as the first foreign-born first lady since Louisa Adams in 1825-1829. The couple shares one son, Barron Trump, who is currently attending college.
Despite their complicated history, Trump spoke warmly about Ivana at her funeral in 2022. He described his ex-wife and the mother of his three eldest children as someone who never gave up and took nothing for granted. Ivana remained proud of her children throughout her life, particularly when they appeared on stage during their father’s presidential campaigns. The three children Ivana raised became prominent figures in both the Trump Organization and Trump’s political ventures, a legacy that appeared to bring her considerable satisfaction even as she navigated the complex family dynamics created by her ex-husband’s subsequent marriages.
