Ivana Trump's Legacy Casts a Shadow Over Trump's Birthday

Summary

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The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Ivana Trump's Legacy Casts a Shadow Over Trump's Birthday

Date: June 14, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dive deep into the haunting legacy of Ivana Trump as it continues to overshadow Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. The brothers explore the unsettling circumstances surrounding Ivana’s death and burial, her public and private accusations against Donald Trump, and new revelations connecting Ivana and the Trump family to figures like Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Through anecdotes, deposition excerpts, and recent bombshell news, the episode exposes the dark underside of Trump’s personal life and the ongoing impact on his political aspirations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Ivana Trump’s Mysterious Death and Burial

• Circumstances of Death: Ivana Trump died in July 2022 from a purported fall in her New York City townhouse. Her health was not perceived as poor prior to the accident.
  • “She died under very mysterious circumstances in July 2022. She was relatively healthy, but she fell steps purportedly… She was then quickly buried in the backlot of one of Donald Trump's golf courses. How ghoulish.” (Ben, 02:09)
• Unusual Burial: The brothers emphasize the oddity of her being interred in the overgrown backlot of Trump’s Bedminster golf course, under shady and unkept bushes, further fueling rumors and speculation.
  • “She was buried in an area under bushes and grass in an area that fell under disrepair. Again, how ghoulish.” (Ben, 02:23)
• Symbolism: The brothers argue that this treatment reflects the Trump family’s callousness and reopens questions about Ivana’s knowledge of Trump’s dark secrets.

2. Ivana’s Deposition: Accusations Against Donald Trump

• Assault Allegation: The episode reads from the book The Last Tycoon, narrating Ivana’s detailed account of a violent marital rape by Donald Trump in 1989, allegedly as retribution for an unsuccessful scalp reduction surgery.
  • “He rips off her clothes and unzips his pants. Then he jams his penis inside her ... She later describes what the Donald is doing to her in no uncertain terms. According to the version she repeats…‘He raped me.’” (Excerpt read by Ben, 06:02)
  • Memorable quote attributed to Trump (from Ivana’s account): “‘Does it hurt?’” (06:54)
• Subsequent Retraction: Ivana later issued a carefully worded statement, under legal pressure, softening her original claim but not outright denying the incident.
  • “I refer to this as a rape, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.” (Ben, 07:37)

3. Trump’s ‘Sick and Dark Past’: Connections to the Epstein Files

• JD Vance Situation Room Discussion: Republicans—including JD Vance—debated whether to release or withhold damaging Epstein-related files, noting Trump’s already scandal-ridden history.
  • “JD Vance argued, because Donald Trump's past is already filled with sickening accusations … just release everything and then we can all just deny everything.” (Ben, 03:45)
• Role of Ghislaine Maxwell: The episode references fresh accusations about Ivana’s relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, with Epstein survivor Maria Farmer stating Ivana and Ghislaine were best friends and often together as Maxwell engaged in the recruitment of young girls.
  • “Ivana Trump was Ghislaine Maxwell’s best friend. … She would say, ‘We're gonna go get, pick up Ivana, or Ivana's gonna come.’” (Maria Farmer, 18:20)

4. Donald Trump’s Russian Connections (as Recalled by Ivana)

• From Art of the Deal: Trump traveled to the Soviet Union with Ivana in 1987, and the brothers connect Ivana’s familial ties to Czechoslovakian intelligence with the U.S.S.R. and speculation about Trump’s early links to Russian interests.
  • “It was believed that Ivana's father was a member of the secret police … reported back a lot to Soviets about Donald Trump’s whereabouts.” (Ben, 08:41)

5. Public Persona and Private Reality

• TV Interviews and Stagecraft: The hosts play clips revealing the performative nature of Trump family events and Ivana’s post-divorce public statements.
  • “It seemed like they were using it as an opportunity in 2022 to, like, just pose … like they did a staged photograph. … How ghoulish and how weird.” (Ben, 10:28)
• Ivana’s own words reflect independence and material comfort after the divorce:
  • “Do you miss the old life? The old life with Donald?”
    “I don’t, no.” (Ivana Trump, 13:07)
• On the Relationship Dynamic:
  • “Ultimately, Ivana does exactly as I tell her to do.” (Donald Trump on Oprah, 13:44)

6. Impact on Ivana’s Health and Family

• Ivana discusses how her father was devastated and humiliated by the divorce, which contributed to his failing health.
  • “My father was humiliated because, you know, he, I was his pride and joy in his life.” (Ivana Trump, 14:32)

7. Commentary from Outsiders

• Megyn Kelly’s Reflections: The former Fox host, now a Trump critic, highlights Trump’s pattern of infidelity and Ivana’s accusations.
  • “Trump has cheated on every wife he’s had ... And by the way, Ivana, his first wife, accused him of raping her.... She later retracted that when he ran for president. But that stood on the books for some time.” (Megyn Kelly, 16:12)

8. Ghislaine Maxwell, Ivana Trump, and Maria Farmer’s Testimony

• Maria Farmer recounts creepy encounters with Ghislaine Maxwell and Ivana, describing how Ivana was frequently present during rides where girls' phone numbers were collected near schools.
  • “Ivana Trump was like her best friend ... And Ivana would—she would say, ‘We’re gonna go get Ivana, or Ivana's gonna come.’” (Maria Farmer, 18:20)
  • “She would get their phone numbers. … She would drive by schools.” (Maria Farmer, 19:23)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Ivana’s burial:

  • “How ghoulish and how weird.” (Ben, 10:28)

• Ivana on her ex-husband:

  • “Do you miss the old life? The old life with Donald?”
    “I don’t, no.” (Ivana Trump, 13:07)

• Donald Trump:

  • “Ultimately, Ivana does exactly as I tell her to do.” (Trump, 13:44)

• Ivana’s revised account:

  • “I refer to this as a rape, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.” (Deposition statement, 07:37)

• Megyn Kelly’s critique:

  • “He’s got chutzpah … It was really inappropriate and it was wrong.” (Megyn Kelly, 17:03)

• Maria Farmer’s testimony:

  • “Ivana Trump was like her best friend ... She would say, ‘We're gonna go get Ivana, or Ivana's gonna come.’” (Maria Farmer, 18:20)
  • “She would get their phone numbers ... She would drive by schools.” (Maria Farmer, 19:23)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Timestamp | Topic / Quote / Segment | |-----------|-------------------------| | 02:09 | Introduction to Ivana’s unusual burial and connection to Trump’s secrets | | 06:02 | Dramatic reading of Ivana’s deposition and sexual assault accusation | | 07:37 | Ivana’s official retraction/clarification statement | | 08:41 | Discussion of Trump’s Russia and Czechoslovakia connections | | 10:28 | Analysis of funeral footage and performative Trump family behavior | | 13:07 | Ivana’s interview excerpt: “Do you miss the old life? ... I don’t, no.” | | 13:44 | Oprah interview: “Ultimately, Ivana does exactly as I tell her to do.” | | 14:32 | Ivana on her father’s humiliation from the divorce | | 16:12 | Megyn Kelly’s summary of Trump’s infidelities and Ivana’s accusations | | 18:20 | Maria Farmer’s account of Ivana and Ghislaine Maxwell’s friendship and activities |

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Conclusion

Through this episode, the Meiselas brothers present a damning portrait of Donald Trump’s treatment of Ivana, her legacy, and her knowledge of Trump’s past, bolstered by chilling testimony and public records. The shadow of Ivana’s life, death, and secrets continues to hang over Trump’s personal and political life, as detailed through never-before-heard stories, memorable interviews, and first-hand survivor accounts.

Transcript

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and fees, extra fee, full terms@mint mobile.com Ivana Trump, Donald Trump's first wife, is haunting him from the grave. She's buried in Bedminster in the backlot of one of Donald Trump's golf courses. She died under very mysterious circumstances in July 2022. She was relatively healthy, but she fel steps purportedly in July 2022 of her new York City townhouse. She was then quickly buried in the backlot of one of Donald Trump's golf courses. How ghoulish. And she was buried in an area under bushes and Grass in an area that fell under disrepair. Again, how ghoulish. She obviously knew a lot about Donald Trump's dark past. And she made very serious accusations against Donald Trump about things that Donald Trump did to her. And she made these statements under oath in a deposition that she gave in connection with divorce proceedings. She got divorce from Donald Trump. Donald Trump had affairs while they were married. And she gave a deposition where she gave this testimony about Donald Trump. Now, how is this connected to what's happening right now and how is it haunting Donald Trump? Well, a Situation Room emergency meeting was held by JD Vance not once, but multiple times where Donald Trump's dark past has been addressed in connection with the release of the Epstein files. A New York Times expose bombshell talked about this meeting, according to sources who are there, whether that source is JD Vance or people close to JD Vance or other sources, there may be Dan Bongino or sources close to Dan Bongino. JD Vance's position was Donald Trump has such a sick and dark past to begin with. Why would we withhold anything in the Epstein files? As bad as these files are, they're not worse than what Donald Trump did in the past. Or it will just be noise. JD Vance argued, because Donald Trump's past is already filled with sickening accusations. It's already filled with Donald Trump being found civilly liable for sexual assault. So just release everything and then we can all just deny everything. And then you had people like Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's chief of staff and others saying, no, we can't release that. Then there were very serious, as you now know, because this came out, accusations against Donald Trump that were in the Epstein files and a lot that's still being covered up by the Trump regime. And you had people in the White House who were saying release it all. You had people saying hide it. And thankfully, because Democrats worked with some Republicans like Thomas Massie and others, these files were able to be released. And Donald Trump still covering up a lot about what's in those files. And to think about Donald Trump's dark past continuing to haunt him, especially as he heads to his 80th birth birthday right now, certainly front and center on his mind is his dark past regarding Ivana. Now, I want to give you some data points here as well. And the first thing I want to share with you is what she said in her deposition because it's absolutely sickening. This comes from a book about Ivana. And I will read to you what is in this right now. The book is called the Last Tycoon and here's what it says. Ivana Trump has been relaxing in the master bedroom room of the Trump Tower Triplex, thinking about the trip she will be going to take to Tahiti. This is when she was married to Donald Trump. The trip will not just be for a vacation. It has to do with Donald's business. Lauren Etas, the widow of the late Trump Gaming Division executive Mark et Test, will be going with her. Ivana has been hoping the trip will help them get over the tragedy of the helicopter crash. Suddenly, according to Ivana, the Donald storms into the room. He's looking very angry and he's cursing out loud. Your fucking doctor has ruined me.

[E]

He screams.

[B]

The Donald flings Ivana onto the bed. Then he pins the back her arms and grabs her by her hair. The part of her head he is grabbing corresponds to the spot on his head where the scalp reduction operation has been done. The Donald starts ripping out Ivana's hair by the handful, as if he's trying to make her feel the same kind of pain that he is feeling. Ivana starts crying and screaming. The entire bed is being covered with strands of her golden locks. But the Donald does not finish. He rips off her clothes and unzips his pants. Then he jams his penis inside her. For the first time in more than 16 months, Ivana is terrified. This is not lovemaking. This is not romantic sex. It is a violent assault. She later describes what the Donald is doing to her in no uncertain terms. According to the version, she repeats some of her closest confidence. He raped me. When the Donald finally pulls out, Ivana jumps up from bed. Then she runs upstairs to her mother's room. She locks the door and stays there, crying for the rest of the night. The next morning, Ivana musters up the courage to return to the master bedroom. The Donald is there waiting for her. He leaves no doubt that he knows exactly what he did to her the night before. As she looks in horror at the ripped out hair scattered all over the bed, he glares at her and asks with menacing casualness, does it hurt? On April 7, 1993, when the first printing of the Lost Tycoon, that's this book that I just read from you was awaiting shipment. The publisher who had met with Donald Trump and his lawyers on March 3rd received the following communication from Donald Trump's lawyers. The statement by Ivana Trump does not contradict or invalidate any information contained in this book and it is included here only to give full expression to the differing points of views on an important event. Statement of Ivana. During a deposition given by me in connection with my matrimonial case, I stated that my husband had raped me. I wish to say that on one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated as the love and tenderness which he normally exhibited toward me was absent. I refer to this as a rape, but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense. Any contrary conclusion would be an incorrect and most unfortunate interpretation of my statement, which I do not want to be interpreted in a speculative fashion. I do not want the media to misconstrue it. I want to also talk about other aspects of Donald Trump and Ivana's dark past. Right here, go to the Art of the deal, page 364. Especially now with Trump being such a Putin bootlicker. This fascinated me. In January 1987, I got a letter from Yuri Dubinin, the Soviet ambassador to the United States, that began it is a pleasure for me to relay some good news from Moscow. Went on to say the leading Soviet state agency for international tourism, the Gasketman Tourists, has expressed interest in pursuing a joint venture to construct and manage a hotel in Moscow. On July 4, I flew with Ivana, her assistant Lisa Calandra and Norma to Moscow. It was extraordinary experience. We toured a half dozen potential sites for a hotel, including several near Red Square. We stayed in Lennon Su at the National Hotel and I was impressed with the ambition of the Soviet officials to make a deal. Or how about the fact that Czechoslovakia ramped up spying on Donald Trump in the late 1980s, seeking US intel. Czechoslovakia the time, obviously in the Soviet bloc, it was believed that Ivana's father was a member of the secret police there and reported back a lot to Soviets about Donald Trump's whereabouts. Yes, Russia, Russia, Russia. And so you have that going on as well. Additional data points to remember what she also knew Trump kept Hitler speeches by his bed resurfaced Ivana interview revealed she talked about how Donald Trump kept Hitler interviews around. Now I want to share this with you as well. Share with you this data point when this is just. I'll play the B roll right here. Ivana Trump's alleged casket arriving in New York church for for her funeral service in July 20, 2022. And now I'll show you this video right here which I find fascinating, which was as people as they were leaving the church for her funeral ceremony. The Trump family seemed to like pose like let the casket go away where it was eventually buried in Bedminster. And it seemed like they were using it as an opportunity in 2022 to like just po. Like they did like a stage photograph. As I said. How ghoulish and how weird. Let me just show this for you.

[E]

Let's play this clip.

[B]

There you go.

[F]

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[B]

And now I'll just give you a few more data points. Right before Ivana died, this was an interview that she gave where she talked about her life. And you know, you look at her right over here and you go, wow. She died shortly after this interview. I'll show you this clip. Let's play it. Do you miss the old life? The old life life with Donald?

[G]

I don't, no. Nothing really changed. I have a beautiful home here. I have a spectacular apartment in Miami. I have a 300-year-old fisherman houses in harbor of the St. Tropez. What more can I have?

[B]

And to remind you how Donald Trump would treat Ivana publicly, here's an interview that they gave when they were On Oprah together. Let's play it.

[D]

Do you all argue?

[H]

Yes, yes, but not greatly. I'll tell you truthfully, we don't have tremendous fights. We should have world record setting fights, but we really don't. We get along very well and there's not a lot of disagreement because ultimately Ivana does exactly as I tell her to do.

[B]

You see, Wait a minute.

[D]

Man is shoving it.

[H]

Right, right, men?

[E]

Is that right?

[B]

And here's an interview that Ivana gave about her marriage to Donald Trump. And this kind of talk sums up what their relationship was like.

[E]

Here, play this clip.

[F]

But she didn't just lose her husband in the same year, Ivana lost the other most important man in her life when her father died suddenly of a heart attack.

[G]

I was a little bit numb and maybe that helped me also when my father passed away because I just, I just cannot worst. It just has to get better.

[F]

You say in the book you thought the divorce perhaps contributed to your father's heart condition.

[G]

I just know that my father was devastated and my father was humiliated because he, you know, he, I was his pride and joy in his life. I know that he took it very hard. It's just unfortunate it did happen at the time when I did need him most.

[F]

How did you compensate for that, Ivana?

[G]

You don't.

[F]

As for her ex, Donald's new life now includes Marla, Baby Tiffany and reflections on why it is not a good idea to put your wife to work for you. When I interviewed him last year, Donald said he regretted having had Ivana run his Atlantic City casinos and the Plaza Hotel.

[H]

I think that was the single greatest cause of what happened to my marriage with Ivana.

[G]

If I look at it now, I think it was a terrible idea.

[H]

Ivana would get angry at somebody over the telephone, all of a sudden who was at the casino and she'd start shouting. And I'd say, I don't want my wife shouting at somebody like that.

[G]

Well, you know, if you go into work and if you have four and a half thousand employees and the vice president, you cannot be little pussycat.

[H]

There was a great softness to Ivana, and she still has that softness. But during this period of time, she became an executive, not a wife.

[G]

Suddenly the whole romance and whole evening goes because, you know, you're talking business and you're talking what has to be done and repaired. And this rather than being romantic with each other.

[B]

Now, even Megyn Kelly, a Donald Trump former bootlicker turned Trump critic, right now in 2026, here's what she had to say, let's play this clip.

[D]

Talk about a glass house. I mean, Trump has cheated on every wife he's had. He met Marla Maples while he was still married to the mother of his children, Ivana. Right. It was all over the New York papers. I'm from New York, upstate New York, but I was in New York when this all went down the city. And he was, like, being touted like he was proud of the affair. It was all over the papers, so. And by the way, Ivana, his first wife, accused him of raping her. That she alleged in her first book that he was so angry over the hair transplant he got that she made him get. It was so painful that he raped her. And she later retracted that when he ran for president. But that stood on the books for some time. I don't know whether that's true or not. I'm just saying. Clearly not a great relationship there.

[B]

Right, Right.

[D]

And then he winds up with Melania. And, you know, if you think Trump's been faithful to Melania, okay, that's great. You got bigger issues than I can solve here. But so the nerve, like, the nerve to act for him to be judging somebody else's marriage or love, relationships or choices, it just shows you, like, he's got chutzpah, I guess is the word for it, like, beyond. And it was really inappropriate and it was wrong. It was what he said was wrong on many levels.

[B]

And then I would be remiss if I didn't mention this as well. Epstein victim Maria Farmer said that Ivana Trump was Ghislaine Maxwell's best friend. Of course, Ghislaine Maxwell being in the news a lot lately, as well as a lot of the reporting from the New York Times expose is what do we do about Ghislaine? Ghislaine knew through Ivana all of the things that Donald Trump was engaged in. So Ivana, Ghislaine were best friends. Okay. And part of moving Ghislaine into this Camp Brian facility is she knew a lot of secrets that Ivana told her. Here's a reminder of what Maria Farmer said about Ivana Trump. Let's play. And Maria Farmer is one of Epstein's survivors. Victims. Let's play it.

[I]

Vonna Trump was like, her best friend.

[E]

And with. Yeah, with Ivana, then. Yeah, describe that. That, you know, she'd be there.

[I]

How was creepy. So at the time, Ivana had this. She was doing qvc selling jewelry. Right. Online. I mean, on tv, she was like a QVC coin. Donald Trump and Donald Trump was always hanging out with Epstein, and Ivana was always hanging out with Elan.

[H]

Right.

[I]

And Ivana would. She would. She would say, we're gonna go get. Pick up Ivana, or Ivana's gonna come. And we'd in the car with her. And I remember one occasion where Ghislaine's like, I have to get out right now. And she went and got a number from a child and I. In a uniform.

[E]

Yeah.

[I]

And everybody knew what they were doing. Everybody who surrounded them knew exactly what they were doing.

[E]

And how often if. Did you go for rides? Often with her and Ivana?

[I]

Yeah.

[E]

And would she. Would she pick up girls all the time?

[I]

Yeah. She didn't bring them in the car. She would get their phone numbers.

[E]

Right.

[I]

But she would drive by schools.

[E]

Right.

[I]

So as they got out, so would she.

[E]

And what's Ivana doing at this point? You know what is sitting in the car?

[I]

And I'll never forget because they went one day. I was really weirded out by what had happened. I was really weirded out. So. So I'm sorry, my phone's beeping and just give it a second. But anyway, I've got to go in a second, but I just wanted to tell you I was weirded out when they were driving around with this. So Galanda shut me up, gave me one of those cheap bracelets Ivana was selling on QVC and said, ivana wants you to have this. And I threw it in the garbage.

[B]

There you have it, folks. Let me know what you think about all of this. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers.

[E]

Thank you for watching. Thanks for watching.

[B]

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