IVANA Trump seemed “tired” and ordered only a very small amount of food at her favorite New York City restaurant just hours before her sudden death on Thursday, The US Sun can reveal.
The 73-year-old was found dead at the bottom of a staircase inside her Manhattan home at around 12.40pm after someone called 911 to report a person suffering from cardiac arrest.
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Ivana, the ex-wife of former president Donald Trump and the mother to his three eldest children, had just yesterday paid a visit to her favorite restaurant, Altesi Ristorante, located just a few yards from her Upper East Side apartment.
The Trump matriarch was a frequent visitor to the Italian eatery and appeared in good spirits, if a little fatigued, when she dropped by on Wednesday afternoon, Altesi’s owner Paola Alavian told The US Sun through tears.
“As always she asked me how I was doing – she was always supporting us – and we just shared an extremely normal conversation, the kind I had almost every day I saw her,” Alavian said.
“Her health seemed normal, she looked maybe a little bit tired, but she otherwise seemed okay.”
Alavian said he couldn’t remember what Ivana ordered but described her meal as a “very, very small amount of food.”
“I’m a little bit in shock right now,” he added, voice cracking.
“I have no idea what has happened. We saw a lot of activity going on [outside of her apartment] yesterday.
“She was just an excellent human; she was a really, really good person.
“It’s all very emotional for me at the moment,” Alavian continued.
“She was a mother to everybody here.”
‘AN AMAZING WOMAN’
News of Ivana’s passing broke on Thursday afternoon, with a spokesperson with the FDNY telling The US Sun that the Czech-born former model was pronounced dead on arrival.
Her death was later confirmed by former President Donald Trump in a statement posted to his Truth Social platform, in which he referred to Ivana as a “wonderful” woman.
“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.
“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!”
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Eric, Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump also released a joint statement paying tribute to their late mother.
“Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend.
“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.”
MODEL TO MOGUL
Ivana, born Ivana Marie Zelníčková in communist Czechslovakia, worked as a model in the 1970s before marrying Trump in 1977 – instantly becoming a tabloid figure in New York society during the ’80s.
During their marriage, she held a top position in the Trump Organization as vice president of interior design, CEO and president of Trump’s Castle casino resort, and manager of the Plaza Hotel.
The power couple worked together on several large projects, including the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the renovation of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in NYC, and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
Ivana and Trump welcomed three children together, sons Don Jr and Eric and daughter Ivanka.
Their marriage came to a screeching halt in the early 1990s when Donald Trump’s affair with Marla Maples became headline news.
They finalized their split in 1992, with Ivana opting to keep her surname.
UNLUCKY IN LOVE
She went on to marry two more times in the wake of her split from Donald Trump: first to Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli in 1995, whom she split from two years later, and then she later married toy-boy Rossano Rubicondi in 2008.
The Italian actor and model was more than 20 younger than Ivana.
The unlikely pair tied the knot after six years of dating in a Shakespeare-themed wedding at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort.
The marriage lasted less than a year and Rubicondi died suddenly in November last year from cutaneous melanoma, a type of skin cancer.
Ivana’s death is not currently considered suspicious and it appears as though she died of natural causes, an FDNY spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner said “we will be investigating, but that is all I have to share at this time.”
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