Ivana Trump, who remained out of the spotlight during Trump's presidency, was seen as 'kindred spirits' with her ex-husband and once called herself the real 'first lady' to Trump.
- Ivana Trump, who died on Thursday, was Donald Trump's first wife.
- The two finalized their divorce in 1992 but maintained a cordial relationship years later.
Ivana Trump, Donald Trump's first wife who died on Thursday at 73, largely kept a low profile during her ex-husband's presidency, but the two maintained a cordial relationship long after their contentious divorce three decades ago in 1992.
"She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life," Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social, announcing her death.
In a 2018 profile of Ivana Trump from The New York Times, several associates who were close to the ex-wife said that the two remained friendly long after their split, which received wide media attention.
Nikki Haskell, a friend of Ivana Trump and a former television host, told the publication that Ivana Trump "has nothing but great things to say about Donald" and added that the two were "still kindred spirits."
Another longtime friend of Ivana Trump, Dennis Basso, said that she may have been closest to the former president compared to any of his previous wives.
Ivana Trump briefly stepped back into the media spotlight in 2018 to promote an Italian diet regimen along with her memoir, "Raising Trump."
During a 2017 interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" to promote her book, Ivana Trump referred to herself as the real "first lady."
"I don't want to cause any kind of jealousy or something like that, because I'm basically first Trump wife. OK? I'm first lady," she said.
Melania Trump's spokesperson didn't take kindly to the statement at the time and responded, "There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. Unfortunately only attention seeking and self-serving noise."
The former couple married in 1977 and had three children: Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump.
While married, Ivana Trump, a former model and Olympic skier, aided Donald Trump when he was in the midst of growing his real estate and hotel company Trump Organization, according to The Times.
But the two would enter a contentious divorce that received wide publicity. During one deposition, Ivana Trump accuses her ex-husband of rape and pulling out her hair, according to The New York Daily News. Ivana Trump later retracted the statement and said under oath that she felt "violated" but did not mean to say rape "in a literal or criminal sense."
Ivana Trump received a $14 million divorce settlement, along with a 45-room mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, an apartment, and the use of a 118-room Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, The Times reported.
Ivana Trump remained largely on the sidelines in the decades following her divorce. In a 2018 promotional event in Manhattan, she dodged a question about how her life was impacted by Donald Trump's election, according to The Times.
"I'm really not going to go into politics," she said at the time. "But we speak."