While Ivana Trump is best known as the first wife of divisive former US President Donald Trump, it’s her love for her children that serves as her main legacy.
Ivana sadly passed away in July 2022 from cardiac arrest and in the tributes that followed, her love and dedication to her children were remembered first.
But which of Donald’s five kids belonged to Ivana?
The pair married in 1977 and had Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump together before divorcing in 1992.
While Donald would go on to have more children with other women and Ivana would have another two marriages, these three remained her only children.
Donald Trump Jr.
Named for his father, Donald Trump Jr. is the eldest of Ivana’s children and the eldest of all the Trump kids.
He was born in 1977 and just like his father and grandfather before him, he grew up to become a businessman. He is currently a trustee and executive vice president of The Trump Organisation, but has also dipped his toe in politics since helping his father rise to power in 2016.
However, things were different when Donald was just a boy, where he grew up in the primary care of Ivana.
Donald was very close to Ivana’s side of the family while growing up, even finding a role model in his maternal grandfather, Miloš Zelníček, who had a home near Prague, where Donald would spend his summers.
He was 13 when his parents separated, with Ivana revealing to him that Donald had had an extramarital affair. This would lead him to spend a year estranged from Trump, with claims that he was furious at his father for splitting up the family.
However, the father and son would eventually reconcile and go on to work together. The shift fit with Ivana’s previous claims that it was she who raised the children and though their father ‘provided’ for them, he had no interest until they could ‘talk business with him’.
Donald now has five kids of his own with his ex-wife, model Vanessa Haydon.
Their names are Donald Trump III, Kai Trump, Spencer Trump, Tristan Trump, and Chloe Trump.
While Donald and Vanessa divorced in 2018, Donald is now engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a long-time friend of the Trump family.
Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump was born in 1981 as ‘Ivana Marie Trump’ but was given the nickname Ivanka very early in life – a Slavic diminutive form of hers and her mother’s name.
She made a name for herself early on as a model, which she began doing as a teenager, although her mother confirmed this was ‘on weekends and holidays and absolutely not during the school year’.
She famously shared one of these gigs with Ivana, the duo appearing on the cover of Seventeen magazine in 1997 as part of a ‘celeb mums & daughters’ feature.
Ivanka was central to her father’s presidency, even leaving her role as executive vice president of the Trump Organisation to become a senior adviser to Trump’s presidential administration alongside her husband, Jared Kushner.
She held the roles of Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Economic Entrepreneurship, but constant ethical concerns were raised around her role and her access to classified material.
Ivanka is very much seen to be her father’s favourite child, but she also shared a very close relationship with her mother.
“Heartbroken by the passing of my mother,” she wrote on Instagram when news broke of her mother’s death.
“Mom was brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny. She modelled strength, tenacity and determination in her every action. She lived life to the fullest – never forgoing an opportunity to laugh and dance.
“I will miss her forever and will keep her memory alive in our hearts always.”
Ivana has three kids of her own – Arabella, Joseph, and Theodore.
Eric Trump
The third child of Trump and Ivana, Eric was born in 1984. He was only eight when the pair separated, but from a young age he began to accompany Trump to business dealings and negotiations, ultimately deciding to join the family business while he was still in high school.
He is now a trustee and executive vice president at The Trump Organisation alongside his brother, Donald Jr., and continued to run international business deals on the down-low during his father’s presidency, despite pledging not to do so.
Eric is married to former tabloid television presenter Lara Yunasaka, and the pair have two children together.
Eric “Luke” Trump was born in 2017, while their daughter Carolina Dorothy Trump was born in 2019, rounding out Ivana’s 10 total grandchildren.