--- title: Donald Trump's Campaign From Ivana Trump's View description: Ivana Trump claims she advises him on some policy. canonical: https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-04T13:55:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:25:58.428Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ivana Trump Weighs In on Donald Trump's Campaign og:description: And also the rumors about his small... hands og:url: https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5988ea51cc34e6b/69888d870b72e383a06e8cb3/ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ivana Trump Weighs In on Donald Trump's Campaign twitter:description: And also the rumors about his small... hands twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5988ea51cc34e6b/69888d870b72e383a06e8cb3/ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Ivana Trump Thinks About Donald Trump's Campaign by [Lindsay Kimble / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Lindsay Kimble / People Contributor Apr 4, 2016 1:55 PM UTC  vana Trump attends the 9th Annual Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on September 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor City vana Trump attends the 9th Annual Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on September 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor CityBobby Bank—WireImage/Getty Images by [Lindsay Kimble / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Lindsay Kimble / People Contributor Apr 4, 2016 1:55 PM UTC [Ivana Trump](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:IvanaTrump,00.html) is speaking out about her ex-husband [Donald Trump](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:DonaldTrump,00.html)‘s campaign for the White House in a revealing new interview with the [_New York Post_](http://nypost.com/2016/04/03/ivana-trump-opens-up-about-how-she-advises-donald-his-hands/). Ivana, who was married to the 69-year-old from 1977 to 1992, and shares three of his five [children](http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-children-family-republican-president-candidate), publicly – and privately – supports the GOP frontrunner, and helps advise him on policy, she claims. “We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought,” Ivana, 67, says. Likely, her support comes from past experience: she said that Trump considered a presidential run decades ago. “Probably five years before our divorce, Reagan or somebody brought him a letter and said, ‘You should run for president,’ ” Ivana told the _Post_. “So he was thinking about it. But then… there was the divorce, there was the scandal, and American women loved me and hated him. So there was no way that he would go into \[politics\] at that point. But he was always tooling around with the idea.” Trump and Ivana split after his [affair](http://www.people.com/article/marla-maples-donald-trump-ex-wife-dancing-stars) with eventual second wife [Marla Maples](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:MarlaMaples,00.html), with whom he fathered daughter [Tiffany Trump](http://www.people.com/article/tiffany-trump-donald-trump-daughter-bio). And that large brood should be proof that the Donald has no issues [down there](http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-discusses-marco-rubio-insults), Ivana said in reference to the billionaire businessman’s [previous remarks](http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-discusses-marco-rubio-insults) about his manhood during a debate. “If there was a problem there, Donald would not have five kids,” Ivana said. Getting serious, Ivana also issued her take on the potential world leader’s policies, specifically, immigration. Ivana, a Czech Republic native, said that Americans have to embrace Donald’s plan to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. “I have nothing against Mexicans, but if they \[come\] here – like this 19-year-old, she’s pregnant, she crossed over a wall that’s this high,” Ivana said, displaying what looked like four-inches. “She gives the birth in American hospital, which is for free. The child becomes American automatically. She brings the whole family, she doesn’t pay the taxes, she doesn’t have a job, she gets the housing, she gets the food stamps. Who’s paying? You and me.” She continued, “As long as you come here legally and get a proper job… we need immigrants. Who’s going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don’t like to do that.” Ivana also touched on Trump’s [controversial attitude toward women](http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-women-problem-omarosa-brandi-glanville), noting that she doesn’t think “he’s a feminist.” “He loves women. But not a feminist,” she said. The _Post_ noted that Ivana’s rep changed their stance on Donald’s feminism several times, ultimately saying that he is a feminist. Finally, the one-time accessories designer issued her opinion on Donald’s current wife [Melania](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:MelaniaTrump,00.html)‘s capability to be the First Lady, noting that the former model will “do OK.” “She’s going to adapt just fine,” Ivana said. “She never did anything wrong to me. I wish them all the best.” (Melania and Donald met after he had divorced Maples and [he told PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/article/donald-trump-melania-wife-relationship-marriage) in September that she initially refused to give him her number.) When asked about [potentially](http://www.people.com/article/melania-trump-unique-first-lady) being a First Lady, the Slovenian-born model previously said she would “be different” from previous first ladies. The fact that Ivana and Donald have apparently remained friendly following a [contentious divorce battle](http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20116915,00.html) might speak to what the presidential hopeful [told PEOPLE](http://www.people.com/article/real-donald-trump-people-special-report) in our current cover story. “I’m a much nicer person than people would think, to see me from the outside,” he said. _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/ivana-trump-on-ex-husband-donald-trump) _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/"},"headline":"Here's What Ivana Trump Thinks About Donald Trump's Campaign","datePublished":"2016-04-04T13:55:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:25:58.428Z","description":"And also the rumors about his small... hands","url":"https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5988ea51cc34e6b/69888d870b72e383a06e8cb3/ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lindsay Kimble / People"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc5988ea51cc34e6b/69888d870b72e383a06e8cb3/ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ivana-donald-trump-campaign-opinion","caption":"vana Trump attends the 9th Annual Eric Trump Foundation golf invitational at Trump National Golf Club Westchester on September 21, 2015 in Briarcliff Manor City","creditText":"Bobby Bank—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4280485/ivana-donald-trump-campaign/","name":"Here's What Ivana Trump Thinks About Donald Trump's Campaign"}}]}] ```