Vanessa Trump's Look Has Changed Drastically Since Her Divorce From Don Jr.

Many of former president Donald J. Trump's nearest and dearest were front and center at the 2024 Republican National Convention. Among those were his children, their significant others, and, yes, even Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-wife and mother of his five children, Vanessa Trump. While in attendance, the former couple made headlines as their 2024 RNC behavior confirmed what we suspected about them post-divorce: they are both deeply committed to co-parenting and Vanessa's support for the Trump family is as strong as ever.

Alas, some didn't even recognize the woman who was married to the former president's namesake for 12 years. On the fourth and final night of the high profile political convention, Vanessa could be seen sitting in Donald Trump's uber exclusive V.I.P. box while sporting ultra long blonde locks, a deep tan, and donning an all white skirt suit — a far cry from her days as Mrs. Donald Trump Jr. As one can imagine, this prompted many to wonder about the transformation of Don Jr.'s ex-wife.

Long before Donald Trump Jr. came along, Vanessa Trump (born Vanessa Haydon) was a young brunette making a living as a model for Wilhelmina Models in New York City. But that's not all. Vanessa was also leading a rather tumultuous love life that included the likes of A-list actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

That all changed, however, in 2003, when Vanessa began dating Don Jr. By November 2004, they were engaged, and in November 2005, the couple officially tied the knot. They went on to welcome their first child, a daughter named Kai in 2007, followed by sons Donald in 2009, Tristan in 2011, Spencer in 2012, and another daughter Chloe in 2014. Following the birth of her children, Vanessa promptly put her modeling days behind her, relishing her role as that of a hands-on mom to her large brood. "My sister-in-law Vanessa is a machine," Ivanka Trump gushed to People in 2016. "She can take all of [my children] and not even notice. She has five children and she's Wonder Woman to me."

Still, there were some rumblings that perhaps Don Jr. wasn't as grateful for his "Wonder Woman" of a wife. "He gives her very little help and has been keeping her on a tight budget," a source told Vanity Fair in 2018, less than a week after news of the couple's separation broke. "She doesn't live a lavish life and can very rarely pick up a check at dinner." YIKES.

These days, however, it appears Vanessa Trump is doing pretty well all by herself! While the mother of five still presumably spends most of her time doing carpool and copious amounts of laundry for her children, she also has loads of cash to spend at her disposal after her family made millions in a rather unusual way.

In a wonderful stroke of luck, Vanessa actually came into a lofty amount of family money right before announcing her separation from Donald Trump Jr. As reported by Page Six, Vanessa's father, attorney Charles Haydon, made a brilliant $1 million investment in Rao's Speciality Foods (yes, the marinara sauce) way back when. Fortunately, it proved to pay off tenfold. In 2017, the popular sauce company sold for an eye-popping $415 million and the Haydon family made off like bandits. It's safe to say that Vanessa is no longer asking ANYONE for money to get her hair done, nails done, or anything did! Perhaps that's why she rolled up to the 2024 RNC looking (or should we say LEWKING) brand new!