Ivana Trump died the night before she was due to go on holiday to St Tropez, her best friend has said.
Nikki Haskell said the trip was set to be Ivana's first since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020. She added that the ex-wife of former US president Donald Trump had barely left her house since the start of the pandemic because she was scared of becoming infected with the virus.
Haskell said Ivana, who passed away suddenly at the age of 73 in New York City, was finally ready to go travelling again. She said she was "really looking forward to going to Europe" and even revealed that they had recently been discussing going on a world tour together.
Speaking to Page Six, the US TV presenter said on Thursday: “She was leaving for St Tropez tomorrow. This was going to be her first trip away since the pandemic. She was afraid of getting the virus.
“She was my best friend. I met her the night she met Donald. I can’t even tell you how fabulous she was, just a great friend, and the most amazing, inspirational person."
She continued: “We were contemplating taking a trip around the world this January — take two months off and take a trip around the world. I just can’t believe it."
Haskell also revealed that Ivana was left "extremely devastated" after her fourth husband Rossano Rubicondi died from skin cancer, aged 49, in October last year. Despite the pair divorcing in 2009, the Italian actor continued seeing Ivana on and off for the next decade until they finally parted ways for good in 2019.
Paramedics rushed to reports of a woman in cardiac arrest in Manhattan and found a 73-year-old woman in the Upper East Side apartment where Ivana Trump lived just after 12.30pm on Thursday, the New York City Fire Department said.
Ivana was found unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of a set of stairs in her Manhattan apartment, according to an ABC News correspondent.
The police are investigating whether she fell and whether the fall contributed in any way to her death, but officers say there were no signs of a crime. The medical examiner's office will determine the cause of her death in due course.
Ivana grew up under Communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia and married Trump, who was her second husband, in 1977. The couple divorced in 1992 after it was discovered the former president was having an affair with Marla Maples.
Ivana is survived by her children Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric. Her family said in a statement: "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 10 grandchildren."
