The 1990s were difficult years for Donald Trump's finances. After enjoying success and popularity in the 1980s as president of The Trump Organization and co-author of the best-selling book 'The Art of the Deal,' Trump entered the new decade facing a million-dollar divorce and the failure of some of his their casinos, as The New York Times reported. He wouldn't get better; just five years after he finalized his divorce from Ivana Trump in 1992, Trump saw the collapse of his second marriage, this time to model Marla Maples.
Ivana fought Trump over their prenuptial agreement, The New York Times reported in 1991. In court, Ivana argued that, as CEO of Atlantic City's Trump's Castle casino, she helped build Trump's fortune, which was estimated at $5 billion at the time, the report details. In addition, she Ivana knew that Trump was in the red and was afraid of becoming one of his creditors in case he declared bankruptcy. But Trump prevailed, and Ivana ended up getting pretty much what had been laid out in the prenuptial agreement, which was revised in December 1987: $14 million, a mansion and an apartment, plus $650,000 a year to help support her three children, Donald Jr. . ., Ivanka and Eric.
It wouldn't be the only time a wife would put Trump on trial. In 1997, Maples also challenged the terms of the prenuptial agreement she signed before she married Trump in 1993 and got the worst of it.
Marla Maples received even less than Ivana Trump
The marriage between Donald Trump and Marla Maples lasted four years, with the first filing for divorce in 1997, according to the Associated Press. However, the divorce would not be final until 1999 because Maples argued that her prenuptial agreement was "unfair." After fighting Trump for two years, Maples let him go. According to a 2019 People report, Maples received just $1 million and another $1 million for a house. The agreement also ensured that Trump would support his daughter Tiffany until she came of age.
Maples said that she had trusted Trump when she told him that the document was just a formality and therefore she barely read a word before signing it. Still, Maples didn't like the idea from the start. 'This was the big battle all along,' she said. Vanity Fair. But the eve of their wedding day came and Trump did not budge. 'Marla was under pressure. Donald's position was: without the prenuptial agreement he was not going to get married," a source said. Less than 24 hours before the ceremony, she signed the agreement deemed 'draconian' by Vanity Fair.
Maples had also given birth to Tiffany just two months before marrying Trump in December 1993. "I can think of no greater coercion than a woman with a baby in her womb and a man telling her, 'I'm not going to marry you. unless you sign. What is it supposed to do? If he gave her a laundry ticket, he would probably sign it,” a famous divorce attorney told People.
Marla Maples essentially raised Tiffany as a 'single mom'
Although her divorce from Donald Trump was acrimonious, Marla Maples harbors no ill feelings toward her ex-husband. In an interview with the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2013, Maples said that the relationship "was a very important part of my life," adding that "I still love Donald." I love Eric, Ivanka and Donnie. But Maples has also opened up about the difficulties of co-parenting with Trump. In a 2016 interview with People, Maples said that Trump wasn't exactly an involved father.
After she finalized her divorce, Maples took Tiffany and moved to California, which she admitted was a decision she made to raise her daughter away from the spotlight. 'Her dad is a good provider of education and such, but time-wise, it was just me. His father couldn't be there with the skills of day-to-day parenting. He loves his children. No doubt. But it was all a bit of a negotiation,” she told the outlet. According to The New York Times, Tiffany saw her father mostly on spring break, which she spent at Mar-a-Lago, though Trump sometimes flew in to see her when he was winning awards.
Speaking with Access to Hollywood in 2016, Maples denied that Trump had paid her to prevent her from speaking publicly about her marriage. 'Absolutely not true! He is the father of my child. I never want to speak negatively about him. But do we agree on everything? Absolutely not,' she said.
