“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,” Donald Trump said in a post on the social medial platform Truth Social.
The couple married in 1977 and divorced in 1992.
They had three children together: Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
In a statement to American ABC, the family paid tribute to the matriarch.
“Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend,” the Trump family said in the statement.
“Ivana Trump was a survivor. 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 ten grandchildren.”
Neither the Trump family statement nor the post from the former president mentioned the cause of her death.
But ABC News reports that Manhattan paramedics responded to a call to attend a cardiac arrest.
They found a 73-year-old woman in the Upper East Side apartment, where Ivana Trump lived, just after 12:30pm Thursday (local time).
Trump posted that his ex-wife 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,” he wrote. “She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her.”
Ivana was born Ivana Marie Zelníčková and grew up under communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia which she left in the 1970s.
She married real estate magnate Donald Trump in 1977 and worked for years as a senior executive in his business empire.
She also authored multiple bestselling books and created her own clothing line.
Ivana and Donald divorced in 1992 amid revelations her husband had been having an affair with Marla Maples who later became his second wife.
– AAP & The New Daily
