Why Donald Trump's Dad, Fred Trump, 'Froze Out' Ivana After They Got Engaged

Ivana Trump's memoir, Raising Trump, provided a candid look at her whirlwind romance and subsequent marriage to former President Donald Trump. It revealed how their relationship got off to a rocky start due to tensions with Donald's father, Fred Trump Sr, who apparently 'froze out' Ivana after she refused to order steak at a family brunch, thereby basically breaking a longstanding Trump tradition. 

But that's not all, since her revealing sense of style also clashed with Fred's conservative tastes. At this one event, Ivana wore a high-necked dress to look all modest, but then she slyly turned around to show Fred that it wasn't modest at all. She stated, "I turned around so he could see that the dress was backless and dipped all the way to my G-string," as per The New Yorker.

Ivana and Donald's courtship moved at a rapid pace after their fateful meeting in 1976 at a New York restaurant. Donald offered to help Ivana and her friends skip the line to be seated. The next morning, he sent roses to Ivana, though she was unfazed at first about being regularly pursued by men, as per People.

Despite her initial nonchalance and lack of interest, they were engaged within just a few months. Before walking down the aisle in 1977, Ivana had to hammer out a prenuptial agreement with Donald. She walked out at one point when he refused her request for a $150,000 divorce 'rainy day' fund to compensate for giving up her modeling career. They eventually compromised on $100,000, though Ivana shrewdly renegotiated up to $2.5 million by 1984, and $10 million by 1987. Their elaborate 1977 Easter wedding was officiated by Norman Vincent Peale, with 600 guests in attendance, only six of whom Ivana actually knew personally.

Even the decision on naming their first son, Donald Trump Jr., caused friction, with Donald asking, "What if he's a loser?" Nonetheless, Ivana eventually got her way. After their children's births, Ivana quickly returned to work in just two days, thanks to her 'mercifully brief' deliveries despite hating pregnancy. She took charge of design at the Trump Organization's Grand Hyatt hotel project while relying on nannies for much of the child-rearing, including helping kids like Donald Jr. with homework before going out at night.

While skirting the marriage's messier controversies, Ivana depicted herself as a tenacious, self-made woman who tirelessly worked to earn her keep despite marrying into wealth. The book is noticeably vague on the details of Donald's affair with Marla Maples leading to divorce. It only refers to her as 'the showgirl.' Ivana also criticized Hillary Clinton for standing by an unfaithful husband, a veiled jab at Bill Clinton. Post-split, Ivana rebounded by dating a string of younger men, even appearing one Halloween dressed as Little Bo Peep while her boyfriend Rossano dressed as Donald in a self-parodying move.