IVANA TRUMP, THE first wife of Donald Trump, has died aged 73, the former US president has announced on social media.

“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 posted on 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!”

Ivana and Donald Trump were married from 1977 until their divorce in 1992. 

The Trump family said in a statement that Ivana 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,” the statement said. 

“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.”

The Trumps were a power couple in New York in the 1980s. In recent years, Ivana Trump had been on good terms with her ex-husband. 

She told the New York Post in 2016 that she was both a supporter and adviser to the former US president.

“I suggest a few things,” she told the paper.

“We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought.”

She said she advised him to “be more calm”.

“But Donald cannot be calm,” she added. “He’s very outspoken. He just says it as it is.”

She was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, the former city of Zlin.

Donald Trump was her second husband and she married twice more in the years since their divorce.