The Trump family has always been larger-than-life in the eyes of the public, but this past week we were all reminded that, at the end of the day, they are just another American family, and the public turned out to mourn with them at the passing of Ivana Trump.
On Thursday, Eric and Donald Trump announced in separate social media posts that Ivana Trump had passed away in her home in New York City.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Ivana Trump. Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,” Eric Trump, the youngest son of Donald and Ivana Trump, wrote on Instagram.
“Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren,” he added.
He included a photo, which was also shared to Twitter, of the Trump family when he and his siblings were children, decked out in glorious 80s finery:
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— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) July 15, 2022
While the tweet attracted the requisite cynical and even downright hateful remarks about Ivana’s lightning-rod former husband, several far more gracious Twitter users issued kindhearted condolences to the Trump family.
I am truly sorry for your loss Eric. Death is never pretty, just remember, she’s not really dead, she is elevated to a different space. You and I know this to be true. May God bless you and all you do?
— Shannon B (@shank4556) July 15, 2022
I was in tears today & found out about the passing of your beautiful mother Ivana, such a lady. I have always respected her. I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing a mother is one of the hardest things we have to face in life. May God comfort you, Peace, Prayers, & Blessings.
— Di So (@DiSo56) July 15, 2022
What a beautiful, smart, and loving woman she must have been to raise such fine children. I’m so sorry for your loss.
— The_IrishGoodBye ✝️??? (@TheIrishgudbye) July 15, 2022
Sorry for your loss, and for your entire family’s loss Eric… I’ve been rooting for your family since the 80s as an architectural student in NYC as a huge fan of your Father’s ambitious development projects. Your Mother’s love, as you know was a big factor in all your success.
— Johnny TV Metal Hockey (@19IsleinNJ22) July 15, 2022
Your Mom was beautiful and amazing.
Rest in peace Ivana Trump ?
— DJ Rubiconski (@RevengeBunny) July 15, 2022
Ivana Trump was the first wife of former President Trump and was the mother of Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric. She played a major role in the rise of the Trump business empire in the 1980s and 1990s, and despite their messy, tabloid-attracting divorce, she remained close to her former husband in later years.
Born in the Czech Republic, she was an elite athlete as a young woman and later turned to modeling after immigrating first to Canada and then the United States.
She was working in reception in New York City when she met Donald Trump, The New York Times noted, and would go on to rise to nearly the same degree of fame as her real estate mogul husband and comprise one-half of one of the city’s most well-known power couples in the gilded 80s age they largely defined.
Daughter Ivanka also paid a loving tribute to her late mother on Instagram, writing that she was “Heartbroken by the passing of my mother.”
Do you admire the life of Ivana Trump?
“Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modeled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest — never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance,” she wrote along with a photo of the mother and daughter pair when Ivanka was a child, both flashing gorgeous grins.
“I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always,” she added.
Former President Trump himself also offered a tender tribute to his former wife.
“I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!” he added.
Ivana and Donald Trump were, indeed, larger-than-life figures in the 1980s and the entire Trump family would go on to find themselves at the center of one of the most contentious and divisive eras of American cultural life.
Yet with Ivana’s passing, we are reminded that they are just flesh and blood just like the rest of us, and nothing illustrates the ultimate humanity of a wildly famous life like the passage of such a life into the one beyond these mortal shells of ours.
We are all made in God’s image, no matter how famous or insignificant we may be, and the passing of a beloved mother and the mother of one’s children is no less of a cause for us to pray and mourn with those who have lost a loved one than if they were our fellow churchgoer, neighbor or friend.
No one is really the caricature of themselves as portrayed in the press or the eyes of the public, and for all the glitz, glamor and fame, Ivana Trump was a person who loved and one whom her children and family members have now lost.
Let’s keep them in our hearts and prayers this week and in the painful weeks, months and years to come as they go on in grief without her.
