Who are Donald Trump's current and former spouses and what are their backgrounds and careers?

1. Ivana Trump: the early partner in the business empire

Ivana Marie Zelníčková, born in Czechoslovakia, worked as a model and ski instructor before meeting Donald Trump and marrying him in 1977; during their marriage she became a visible business partner in the Trump Organization, holding roles described in contemporary reporting and biographies as vice president of interior design and as CEO/president of Trump Castle and manager of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan ^{[4] [5] [8]}. Journalistic accounts and later obituaries characterize Ivana as a “career woman” who helped run major Trump projects—Trump Tower, the Grand Hyatt renovation and the Trump Taj Mahal—and as a social fixture in 1980s New York, a narrative that underscores both her managerial responsibilities and the couple’s tabloid prominence during that era ^{[4] [8]}. Their marriage produced three children—Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric—who later became prominent in the family business and public life, and their highly public divorce in the early 1990s followed revelations of an affair that received extensive tabloid coverage ^{[1] [4]}.

2. Marla Maples: the entertainer and the brief second marriage

Marla Ann Maples, an actress and television personality from Georgia, became publicly linked to Trump amid the tabloid storm that led to his first divorce, and the couple married in 1993 after the birth of their daughter Tiffany earlier that year ^{[1] [2]}. Maples’s career has been framed in the sources as rooted in entertainment and media visibility rather than corporate management, and reports note that after their separation in 1997 and divorce in 1999 she primarily raised Tiffany in California while Trump maintained a New York residence, reflecting a divergence in their post-marriage paths and parenting arrangements reported at the time ^{[1] [2]}. Contemporary summaries and timelines place Maples’ role in public narratives about Trump as both a personal and tabloid figure, with her relationship to Trump often covered through the lens of scandal and celebrity culture ^{[3] [9]}.

3. Melania Trump: the model-turned-First Lady and public philanthropist

Melania Knauss, born in Slovenia in 1970, pursued a successful international modeling career beginning as a teenager, moved into commercial ventures such as jewelry and skincare licensing, and became Donald Trump’s third wife in 2005; the marriage produced their son Barron in 2006 and positioned Melania as First Lady during Trump’s presidencies, where she focused publicly on child welfare initiatives such as the BE BEST campaign and on diplomatic engagements ^{[6] [7] [10]}. Sources note Melania maintained a relatively private profile during parts of the 2016 campaign but later undertook international travel, met foreign dignitaries, and served in honorary roles for nonprofits—activities presented by White House and archival biographies as public-service and advocacy work consistent with contemporary first-lady portfolios ^{[7] [10]}. Biographical summaries also recount how her fashion and modeling background contributed to her public image and occasional controversies tied to the family’s political stances and immigration rhetoric ^{[11] [6]}.

4. Marriages as leverage, image and contested narratives

Across sources, the three marriages are positioned differently: Ivana as integrally involved in early business operations and family-building ^{[4] [5]}, Maples as entwined with celebrity and tabloid narratives in the 1990s ^{[1] [3]}, and Melania as a professional model who assumed the conventional first‑lady role while also shaping public perceptions through selective visibility and advocacy ^{[7] [10]}. Reporting across biographies and institutional pages sometimes serves different agendas—celebratory institutional bios emphasize philanthropic work ^{[7] [10]}, while tabloid and biographical accounts foreground scandal, power dynamics and media spectacle ^{[1] [9]}—and readers should note those editorial frames when weighing claims about influence, agency and managerial roles.

5. Limits of the record and what remains contextual

The sourced material establishes the basic timelines, careers and public roles of Ivana, Marla and Melania but relies on biographies, archived White House material and journalistic timelines that emphasize public-facing facts; deeper private dynamics, unreported motivations and contested characterizations are outside the explicit scope of these sources and therefore not adjudicated here ^{[4] [1] [7]}. Where sources disagree on emphasis—business leadership versus social role, privacy versus visibility—that divergence is noted above and reflects both differing editorial aims and the mixed nature of public records about personal relationships ^{[5] [3] [9]}.