Wednesday 17 August 2022 07:25 PM Ivana Trump 'left Donald Trump's presidential inauguration after being given a ... trends now
Ivana Trump left her ex-husband's inauguration early because she was upset with the seating arrangements — not because she wanted to avoid seeing Marla Maples, a friend has claimed.
Massimo Gargia, who introduced Ivana to her fourth husband, Rossano Rubicondi, told New York Magazine's Intelligencer, how the New York socialite was shocked by her seating placement at the 2017 ceremony.
'In Washington for the inauguration, she had a very bad seat. So she left,' Gargia said.
'She was in shock to see where they put her. It was a little exclusion.'
Page Six reported at the time that Ivana and her mother, Barbi, were moved to seats on the edge of the front row of the inauguration to accommodate Barbi, who was then in a wheelchair.
'They had seats in the middle of the front row, but couldn't use them,' an unnamed source told the outlet. 'They were shifted off to the side.'
Ivana then left Washington DC on a 9pm flight back to the Big Apple.
But Gargia's story seems to refute Page Six's earlier reporting that Ivana left the ceremony to avoid seeing Marla Maples, whom her ex-husband publicly left her for in the early 1990s.
A source told the outlet at the time Ivana had planned to 'go out and celebrate after the swearing-in, but when she found out that Marla was going, she canceled.'
Maples, meanwhile, shared an Instagram video of her waiting for the ceremony to begin that day — sitting directly in the front row.
Ivana Trump left her ex-husband's Presidential Inauguration early in 2017 after she became upset with her seating arrangements, New York Magazine reports. She is pictured here on her way down to Washington DC for the ceremony
Marla Maples, whom Donald Trump left Ivana for, posted an Instagram live story showing she was in the front row
Ivana was apparently moved to the side to accommodate her mother, Barbi, who was in a wheelchair
According to the Intelligencer, Ivana was shocked at her treatment at the inauguration after she stood by Donald's side during the campaign — and even defended him as he faced sexual harassment claims.
In fact, Ivana refuted accounts that she had accused Donald of rape during their divorce, stating her accusation at the time were not of a 'literal of criminal sense.'
She then said in a statement to CNN in 2015: 'I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit.
'Donald and I are the best of friends, and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of,' she continued. 'I have nothing but fondness for Donald, and wish him the best of luck on his campaign.
'Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.'
She had continued to defend him as the president, and once said she considers herself the 'first first lady,' having married Trump prior to his now-wife Melania, despite their tumultuous relationship and expensive divorce.
Ivana first met real estate tycoon Donald Trump in 1976 when she was working as a model, and the two were married just over a year later on April 7, 1977
Ivana first met Donald Trump as a model in 1976, recounting in her memoir how Trump secured her and her friends a table at a hot Manhattan restaurant, paid the check and chauffeured her back to her hotel in a Cadillac.
The two married just over a year after they met, in a private wedding ceremony on April 7, 1977.
A couple months later, in October 1977, the couple welcomed their first child, Donald Jr. They then went on to have Ivanka Trump in October 1981 and Eric Trump in January 1984.
At the height of their relationship, the two were business partners, working on some major projects like development of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the renovation of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
But by 1989, there started to be some trouble in paradise for the couple - as they were observed fighting while on vacation in Aspen, Colorado after Ivana discovered that Donald was having an affair with Marla Maples - who would go on to be his second wife.
The Chicago Tribune then reported in February 1990 that Donald had locked his wife out of her
