Ivana Trump said she had NO regrets marrying Donald during 2016 sit-down with celebrity journalist 

Celebrity journalist Chaunce Hayden sat down with Ivana Trump who shared insights into her life, including if she had any regrets marrying Donald Trump, living with and without wealth and what the public’s biggest misconception is about herself.

Hayden is the former publisher of Steppin’ Out magazine who met Ivana several times over the past 20 years. He interviewed ‘kind and friendly’ Ivana in 2016 for New York-based Metropolis Nights magazine and described her as ‘smart as a whip.’

‘I see a lot of Ivana in Ivanka. Ivana was a lot of things, but most of all I think she would want to be remembered as a mom who adored her kids,’ Hayden said. ‘She faced hard times with elegance and most of all she was an awesome mom.’

Ivana Trump died on Thursday of a suspected cardiac arrest after being found ‘unconscious and unresponsive’ in her New York City townhouse. She was 73.

Here, DailyMail.com recaps that 2016 interview. 

Celebrity journalist Chaunce Hayden sat down with Ivana Trump for a 2016 interview for New York-based Metropolis Nights magazine 

‘Everything that I have done I would do all over again, including my marriage, because it’s life and like life, things go up and down,’ Ivana said in the interview, squashing rumors that she married Donald for wealth

‘Ivana was a lot of things, but most of all I think she would want to be remembered as a mom who adored her kids,’ Hayden said. ‘She faced hard times with elegance and most of all she was an awesome mom’ 

Chaunce Hayden: How would you describe yourself?

Ivana Trump: Well I did come from a small town (laughing) but I didn’t come from what you would call modest means. Czechoslovakia is a very sophisticated country. I had a fantastic education and lived in a beautiful home. 

I received my Masters Degree (Physical Education) from Charles University in Prague and I always traveled around the world with my ski team, so it wasn’t like I was coming from nothing to something. Another misconception about me, which is all wrong, is that I married for wealth. 

Donald was working for his father when I met him. It was a nice life but we were very young kids who started from nothing. People have this idea that when I married Donald, I married this multi-billionaire. But that’s not true at all. We were very young kids who started from scratch.

Hayden: Do you have any regrets marrying Donald?

The interview originally appeared in this edition of Metropolis Nights published after Donald Trump had been elected but before he took office

Ivana: Everything that I have done I would do all over again, including my marriage, because it’s life and like life, things go up and down. Not always is everything wonderful; there will always be disappointments. And again, whatever I had done in my life I would do again. 

There are a lot more women out there who are in a lot worse situations than I am. Yes, I did have a bad divorce and yes, I did not lie down and die; I went on with my life and turned a negative into a positive despite all the adversity. We are in this life only once. 

This is not a dress rehearsal and you just have to go on with your life, as hard as it may be.

Hayden: How important is it for you to have wealth and could you survive without it?

Ivana: Well I have been there. I came from a middle class family, but if somebody said that money wasn’t important they would be lying. Money is important, but I look at money as a chore more than anything else. 

Yes, money does buy you a nice car and a nice home but it does not buy you happiness, that’s for sure. Money can cause a lot of problems. Many families with money have children who slip and get involved with drugs.

So money is good in that it makes your life easier but if I did not have money, I would still make it. 

I would always make enough money for my children and my mother to survive on. After all, how many cars can you drive and how many steaks can you eat.

Ivana said money causes problems, adding, ‘Money is important, but I look at money as a chore more than anything else.’ She was last pictured  on June 22 in New York City 

Media gather outside the residence of Ivana Trump on Thursday after her death at age 73

Hayden: What do you think is the public’s biggest misconception about Ivana Trump?

Ivana: I think it was one of your questions earlier. You said, ”Ivana, you came from a communist country and gained all this incredible wealth.”

I think that is the biggest misconception. I did not marry for incredible wealth. When I got married I was about 27 and Donald was about 31 and working for his father. 

But his father is a good man and didn’t just give him a lot of money and say, go have a good time and do whatever you want to do with it. Donald had to earn his salary. So whatever he has, he earned. 

I think many people think that the two of us were just given all this wealth. That’s not true. We both worked very hard to acquire all that we have.