Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Ivana Trump, the first wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump, died unexpectedly at her New York City home on Thursday.
She was 73 years old.
“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!”
According to multiple reports, New York police were called to Ivana’s Manhattan residence around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, when emergency services were informed that she had gone into cardiac arrest.
The Trump family released a statement shortly after her death.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Ivana Trump. Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and a caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor.”
The Trumps were a power couple in New York in the 1980s before their equally public and messy divorce after Donald Trump met his next wife, Marla Maples.
In recent years, Ivana Trump 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 that she was both a supporter and adviser to the former president.
“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.”
Together they had three children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric and Ivanka.
“She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the family 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.”
In 2017, while promoting a book, she told “Good Morning America” that she spoke with the then-president about every two weeks and had his direct White House number but didn’t want to call too frequently “because Melania is there and I don’t want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that because I’m basically first Trump wife, OK?” she said with a laugh. “I’m first lady, OK?”
Melania Trump’s spokesperson at the time responded, saying there was “clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. This is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.”
Ivana Trump was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, formerly Zlin, which had just been renamed by the Communists who took over the country in 1948. She married Trump, her second husband, in 1977.
