14 years of marriage, two years of mudslinging and countless front pages: How Ivana Trump used the divorce from her famous husband for herself.
As the first wife of Donald Trump (76) – and thus his first ex-wife – Ivana Trump made headlines around the world in the 80s and 90s. After her death, the “Spiegel” even headlined “The woman who invented Donald Trump”. Above all, she had to invent herself. Trump died Thursday at the age of 73.
Ivana was born under the maiden name Zelnickova in 1949 in what is now the Czech Republic. She was a talented skier, studied sports science and went to Canada in the 70s. There she began a modeling career, met Donald Trump at an event and married him in 1977. The couple had three children, Donald Jr. (44), Ivanka (40) and Eric (38). But she was more than just a wife and mother: In the 80s she also supported the real estate mogul in his work, for example she managed his Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
encounter with the beloved
The Trumps caused a stir with their divorce after 14 years of marriage – the US magazine calls them “one of the most famous divorces in the world”. This was already indicated in 1989, as Ivana later wrote in her book “Raising Trump”. At the time, she ran into Marla Maples – Donald Trump’s second wife and lover at the time – while on a skiing holiday. Maples reportedly told her, “I’m Marla and I love your husband. Do you?” Trump’s response: “‘Fuck off. I love my husband.’ It wasn’t exactly ladylike, but I was in shock.”
Divorce negotiations started in 1990, only a few months later, and it was not until 1992 that the former spouses finally reached an agreement. Ivana had actually signed a marriage contract.
Mud fight and rose war
But she wasn’t satisfied with that: her lawyer called the document “unscrupulous and fraudulent”. Since Ivana had also contributed to the Trump empire with her work, she was entitled to more, so the argument went. The divorce war dragged on – and made headlines again and again: Ivana claimed that Trump had raped her during her marriage in 1989. She later admitted to fabricating these allegations on the advice of her lawyers.
Among other things, Ivana Trump finally got a villa in Connecticut, a luxury apartment in New York, a one-time payment of 14 million dollars and child support for her three children.
The newspapers were happy about the mudslinging: in 2017, Trump recalled in her book how “insane” the media interest had been. “I couldn’t turn on the TV without hearing my name.” Even after the divorce from Donald Trump, her second by the way, she still made money with it. She wrote several books about her experiences, one titled, “The Best is Yet to Come: Getting Through Divorce and Enjoying Life Again.”
“Don’t get mad, get everything”
A cameo appearance in the 1996 comedy The Devils Club underlined her status as a “successfully divorced woman”. In it, she played herself, tipping one of the main characters in the film, “Don’t get mad, get everything.” (in English: “Don’t get mad, get everything.”)
Source: Stern
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