The Truth About Ivana Trump's Relationship With Marla Maples

The first wife of former President Donald Trump, Ivana Trump, has died. Donald and Ivana were married from 1977 until 1992, according to The Daily Beast, when Marla Maples, Donald's second wife, came into the picture. It's not shocking to learn that the two women were never the best of friends. Writing in her memoir, "Raising Trump," Ivana had this to say about the first time she and Maples met (via The Daily Beast): "This young blonde woman approached me out of the blue and said, 'I'm Marla and I love your husband. Do you?' I said, 'Get lost. I love my husband.' It was unladylike but I was in shock." 

In 1993, according to Vanity Fair, Maples' relationship with Donald was all over the New York tabloids, with one famous headline reading, "Best Sex I've Ever Had." Maples had also just given birth to Tiffany Trump, Donald's fourth child, and she was ready to get married as soon as the divorce with Ivana was finalized. 

Whether or not the relationship with Marla Maples was what ultimately doomed Ivana and Donald Trump's marriage, it's obvious that Ivana and Maples never became friends. "I'm not saying that if it weren't for the showgirl, Donald and I would still be together or that my life since our divorce hasn't been a wonderful adventure of love, travel, success, and laughter. I've had a fabulous life," Ivana wrote in "Raising Trump" (via The Daily Beast). Note: "showgirl" referred to Maples. 

"But that woman knowingly entered into a relationship with my husband, the father of three small children. She actively participated in humiliating me in the media and indirectly put my kids at risk for months," Ivana continued. "I went through hell, and then I was expected to be okay with her being around my children? We all have deep scars from that period of our lives, in part due to her actions. The fact that the kids and I came through the entire ordeal stronger is irrelevant."

Maples, on the other hand, said she wished Ivana nothing but love. "I love her kids, and if she's holding any kind of resentment toward me, I really hope, for her sake, that she can forgive me," she told People in 2016.

Given the dominance that Donald and Ivana Trump had over the New York City tabloid and news headlines in the 1980s, it was no surprise that when Ivana caught Donald having an affair with Marla Maples, it became news, which reverberated around the world.

Although the exact details of Ivana and Maples' initial confrontation remain hazy and vary from source to source, it is clear that it took place during a vacation the Trumps took with their children to an Aspen ski resort in 1989. In addition, there's no doubt that it was messy and packed with mudslinging and personal insults. "You b***h, leave my husband alone!" Ivana shouted at Maples, according to People. Another source claimed that the two women threw snowballs and "hissed" at each other, according to Gawker.

In any case, the result was the same: Donald and Ivana Trump ended up in a notoriously messy divorce proceeding, culminating in an official divorce in 1992. Donald would go on to marry Maples the following year, though they themselves would divorce six years later, in 1999. Regardless of the hatred Ivana might have carried in her heart for Maples in the years after her marriage, she clearly kept a very special place in her heart for Donald up until her death, endorsing him in both of his presidential campaigns, and continuing to advise him well into his presidency.

Despite Ivana Trump declaring in 2016 that she refused to forgive Marla Maples for breaking up her marriage with Donald Trump, according to International Business Times, more than 25 years later, Maples has less-than-acrimonious feelings toward Ivana, and even expressed her sadness over their inability to patch things up.

"It makes me sad because I wish her nothing but love," Maples told People in 2016 about the status of their relationship. "I've never had any intention of hurting her." Maples added that she wished Ivana "absolutely the best." Though there is little word on the status of Maples' relationship with Ivana at the time of her death, it's safe to assume that the two of them never settled their differences and Ivana continued to hold a grudge against the woman who "broke [her] marriage" up until the day she died.