Trump dynasty and reignited decades-old gossip, Ivana Trump, the late first wife of President Donald Trump, has posthumously bared the soul-crushing truth behind their explosive 1992 divorce—26 years after she walked away from the billionaire mogul. The bombshell comes via a never-before-seen letter, unearthed from her personal archives and published today by Vanity Fair, where Ivana, in her own words, spills the tea on what drove her to end their 15-year marriage.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” Ivana wrote in the letter, dated March 1999—seven years after their split but kept under wraps until now. “Donald’s ego was a black hole—sucking up everything, leaving nothing for me or the kids. The affairs, the lies, the Marla mess—that was just the surface. The real reason? He didn’t love us; he loved the mirror. I had to save myself.”
The letter, penned in Ivana’s sharp cursive and authenticated by her estate, was discovered by her daughter Ivanka during a storage clear-out in New York last month. Its release, timed with Trump’s second term as president, has X ablaze and the nation stunned. “Ivana’s spilling this from the grave—Donald’s toast!” one user posted. Another gasped, “26 years later, and she’s still dragging him!”
Ivana, who died in July 2022 at 73, famously cited Trump’s affair with Marla Maples as the divorce trigger back in 1990, after a publicized Aspen confrontation made headlines. But this letter digs deeper, painting a portrait of a marriage suffocated by Trump’s narcissism. “He’d come home bragging about deals, expecting me to clap like a trained seal,” she wrote. “I built his empire—hotels, casinos, the kids—and he’d say, ‘Ivana, you’re lucky to have me.’ Lucky? I was drowning.”
The Czech-born businesswoman, who raised Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, didn’t mince words about Maples, either. “Marla was the symptom, not the disease,” she noted. “Donald chased anything that stroked his vanity. I stayed for the children, but when he flaunted her, I knew: I’m not a prop.” Ivana filed for divorce in 1990, finalized it in ’92 with a $14 million settlement, and never remarried.
Trump, now 78 and back in the Oval Office, hasn’t responded directly, but a spokesperson dismissed it as “old news from a bitter ex.” Still, X users are eating it up. “Ivana just confirmed what we knew—Trump’s a self-obsessed jerk,” one tweeted. Another quipped, “She divorced him 26 years ago and still won the long game—icon!” The hashtag #IvanaSpeaks is trending, with memes of her skiing away from Trump flooding feeds.
Family reactions are mixed. Ivanka, 43, reportedly approved the letter’s release “to honor Mom’s voice,” per a source, while Don Jr., 47, texted friends, “This is nonsense—Dad’s a legend.” Eric, 41, stayed silent. Melania Trump, the current First Lady, was spotted smirking at a Mar-a-Lago brunch, fueling speculation she’s savoring the shade.
Ivana’s letter ends with a zinger: “I raised three kids and an empire while he chased applause. I don’t regret leaving—I regret believing he’d change.” After 26 years of whispers, her confirmation’s a gut punch to Trump’s legacy—and proof that even in death, Ivana Trump swings hard.