For all his apparent misogyny, the newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, has never lacked the company of woman. In fact, the billionaire property tycoon has been married twice before, first to Czechoslovakian-born former model Ivana Marie Zelnícková for 15 years between 1977 and 1992 and then American actress Marla Maples for 6 years between 1993 and 1996.
Side by side, Donald and Ivana Trump became prominent in fashionable society in New York in the years that followed their marriage and had three children together. In 1990, the couple was granted a divorce on the grounds of "cruel and inhuman treatment" and, at one point, Ivana accused her husband of raping her, although she later retracted the allegation, stating that, although Mr. Trump behaved uncharacteristically roughly, she did not mean "rape" in its literal sense.
Unsurprisingly, her comments came to light again in July, with the presidential election campaign in full swing, but Ivana distanced herself still further from them, describing the story as "totally without merit". She went on to express her affection for Mr. Trump, wished him success in his campaign and added, as a footnote, that he would make an extraordinary leader of the free world, in her opinion.
Indeed, it would appear that the pair has managed to maintain an amiable relationship since they reached an undisclosed settlement, in which Ivana reportedly received $25 million from Mr. Trump. In one interview in April, she expressed her gratitude to Mr. Trump for putting her in charge of interior design at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, when she arrived in the United States as an impoverished immigrant. In another, she revealed that she sometimes spoke to her husband before and after his appearances on the campaign trail. She described him as a businessman, rather than a politician and criticised him for being outspoken, blunt and lacking tact on occasions, but also praised him for his ability to hold an audience.
Mr. Trump eventually married his second wife, Marla Maples, with whom he'd had a high-profile affair in 1989, while still married to Ivana, in 1993. At the time, she described her physical relationship with Mr. Trump as "the best sex I've ever had". The couple had a daughter, Tiffany, later the same year, but were divorced in 1999. The couple reached a settlement of under $2 million but, even so, four years later Ms. Maples told Oprah Winfrey of the love she still felt for Mr. Trump and his children from his first marriage.
In an interview earlier this year, Ms. Maples was keen to point out that her reticence about her marriage to Mr. Trump was voluntary and to quash any rumours that she'd been paid off to keep quiet. She expressed no desire to speak negatively about her ex-husband, although she added that if they were in agreement about everything they'd still be married. Overall, her tone was reflective and regretful, but only in the sense that her expectations that she and Mr. Trump could bring out the best in each other, and that she could 'soften' him a little, proved unrealistic.