Donald Trump Basically Ignored His Children Until They Were In College, Ex-Wife Ivana Reveals
Donald Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana, says that the president didn’t know how to act around their children — Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric — until they were in university.
Ivana, Donald’s first wife, spoke with John Catsimatidis on The Cats Roundtable on AM 970, and claimed that she called the shots when it came to the children. During the radio interview, which was released Sunday, she revealed that she had to raise Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric on her own after her divorce from Trump, who was “always busy making the deals.”
According to Ivana, Donald wasn’t the kind of dad who would play games with his kids or take them to Central Park. In fact, Ivana said, the billionaire businessman could barely communicate with his children.
“He did not know how to speak the children’s language.”
“He was not able to do it until the kids were in university,” Trump’s former wife added.
Ivana explained that Trump could only relate to Don, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric when they were adults — “when he could speak business with them.”
Her revelation seems to explain the president’s awkward exchange with children at the White House on Friday. NBC reported that while Trump was entertaining the children of White House reporters at the Oval Office, he told one of them “You have no weight problems; that’s the good news, right?”
President Trump greets members of the press' kids in Halloween costumes: "I cannot believe the media produced such beautiful children" pic.twitter.com/5rKsuzxxVa
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 27, 2017
Ivana Trump is currently promoting her book, Raising Trump. During the radio interview, the former model talked about her decision to write about her “fantastic” children and what it was like to raise them after her split with Trump.
The socialite and fashion designer said that when she and Trump went their separate ways, she told him “there could be only one chef in the kitchen” and that would be her. She said she kept her three kids “busy, busy, busy” so they would “have no time to get in trouble.”
Ivana revealed that she had Ivanka going to singing, piano, and ballet classes. Her boys, meanwhile, had tennis, karate, hockey, skiing, and golf.
“You try everything, and then you watch to see what the kids are good at.”
According to Ivana, she realized that Ivanka didn’t enjoy her piano classes, so she decided to end them.
“She did not enjoy it. And I know if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you can never be great at it.”
Ivana also said that she avoided giving her kids too much money and that she taught them “not to cheat, steal, or lie.”
Trump's first wife says he was unable to have real conversations with his children until they came home from college https://t.co/ZjfIYbTktx
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) October 29, 2017
She said that when they were grown, it was time to hand them over to their father.
“When the kids were 21-years-old I said, ‘Here’s the final product. Now it is your job to continue.'”
Though she claimed that Donald Trump had difficulty interacting with his children when they were little, Ivana described her ex-husband as “a good father” in an excerpt from her latest book, published in Time.
“Obviously, [the children] adore him and are fiercely loyal to him. If he were a horrible dad, that would not be the case.”
Ivana and Donald were married in 1977 and divorced in 1992. The former couple seem to remain on good terms and Ivana has said that they keep in touch. The Czech businesswoman kept a low profile during her ex’s campaign, but recently courted controversy when she jokingly referred to herself as the real first lady, earning Melania Trump’s ire.
[Featured Image by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images]
