Donald Trump and Melania are seen arriving in New York City ahead of Ivana’s funeral service

Former President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have been spotted returning to New York City ahead of Ivana Trump’s funeral service, exclusive DailyMail.com photos show. 

The couple were seen arriving at their old Manhattan residence in Trump Tower on Monday, just four days after the socialite and first wife of Donald Trump was found dead in her Upper East Side apartment.

Dressed in a black suit, Trump, 76, cut a somber figure as he exited his black SUV and was ushered into the luxury building by his security detail. 

Wife Melania, 52, was snapped trailing behind, emerging in a white collared shirt, black slacks, and dark shades. She appeared to be sporting a fresh blowout for the trip. 

Trump and Melania, who relocated to Palm Beach, Florida after leaving the White House early last year, are expected to attend Ivana’s funeral and memorial service later this week. 

The Czech immigrant businesswoman, 73, who died from a fall at her home on July 14, will be laid to rest on Wednesday following a service at a Roman Catholic church. 

Trump, 76, who was married to the socialite and businesswoman for 15 years, cut a somber figure as he was seen emerging from a black SUV in a black suit 

Wife Melania, 52, who joined her husband on the trip to the Big Apple, was seen following closely behind

The former first lady looked casual but classy in a white collared shirt, dark slacks, and dark sunglasses 

Melania is expected to attend Ivana’s funeral service on Wednesday with her husband and his family despite rumors of bad blood between the two women 

A ‘Celebration of Life’ will be held at the historic St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church on Lexington Avenue, sources close to the family revealed Monday. 

Four-times divorced Ivana was Donald’s first wife and the mother of his three eldest children, Donald Jr, 44, Eric, 38, and Ivanka, 40. The two divorced in 1992 after 15 years of marriage.

News of her death was first shared by the former commander-in-chief himself, via a post on his Truth Social account last Thursday afternoon. 

‘I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,’ Trump wrote.

He went on to describe his late former spouse as a ‘beautiful, amazing’ woman, while honoring her close bond with their children. 

Funeral proceedings for Ivana are set to begin at 1:30pm, according to an invitation obtained by the New York Post. 

The invitation requests guests donate to ‘the big dog rescue’ ‘in lieu of flowers,’ according to the paper. 

Earlier reports claimed Melania, who was believed to have feuded with her husband’s first wife, would not be attending Ivana’s funeral. 

Ivana Trump, Donald’s first wife from 1977 to 1992, was found dead at her Upper East Side apartment on Thursday July 14, at the age of 73 

An undated memorial photo posted on Instagram by Donald Jr (left) shows mother Ivana (second from left) alongside children Ivanka (second from right) and Eric Trump (right)

Flowers, cards, and candles were laid at outside Ivana’s residence after news of her passing spread around the world 

However, the couple’s joint trip to the Big Apple suggests there may have not been any bad blood between the two women after all. 

During Trump’s presidency, Ivana famously once claimed that she was the true ‘first lady’ because she was ‘the first Trump wife.’

She also revealed in an interview that she shared a close relationship with her ex-husband, which apparently included a direct number to the White House she didn’t use because she didn’t want to cause any issues between Donald and Melania.

In his statement, Trump, 76, paid tribute to Ivana as a ‘wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life’ 

Ivana said very little about Melania’s role in their lives since she married her ex in 2005, though she once admitted her daughter, Ivanka, likes her father’s third wife ‘fine’.

Detectives believe Ivana was fatally injured falling down the stairs, perhaps after suffering a medical episode, a police official told the Daily News. Foul play is not suspected.

She was last seen alive the previous day at 4:30pm when her housekeeper and assistant left the home, the witness said. 

Two people familiar with the matter told AP that police believe her death was accidental. The medical examiner’s office will determine an official cause of death. 

Rumors started flying about Ivana’s apparent distaste for Melania in 2017, when she publicly declared herself the actual first lady.

News of Ivana’s death was first shared by Trump himself, via a post on his Truth Social account last Thursday afternoon

The couple, who relocated to Palm Beach, Florida after leaving the White House, are expected to attend Ivana’s funeral at the historic St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church on Lexington Avenue Wednesday

In 2017, Ivana infamously claimed she still kept in touch with her ex-husband regularly and had a direct number to the White House that she didn’t use because she didn’t want to cause any issues between Donald and Melania

Ivana Trump (left) and Melania Trump (right) publicly feuded while Donald Trump (center) held office as president of the United States. The three are pictured together with Ivana’s fourth husband Rossano Rubicondi (left) in September 2002

‘Melania is there and I don’t want to cause any kind of jealousy or anything like that because I’m the first Trump wife. I’m the first lady, OK?’ Ivana said during a ‘Good Morning America’ interview in October 2017. 

Her comment infuriated Melania, who quickly issued a statement through her spokesman, which called Ivana an ‘attention seeker.’ 

‘Mrs. Trump has made the White House a home for Barron and the president. She loves living in Washington, DC and is honored by her role as First Lady of the United States. She plans to use her title and role to help children, not sell books. 

‘There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex. Unfortunately only attention seeking and self-serving noise,’ the statement read. 

Earlier on Monday, Ivana’s youngest son Eric Trump was seen leaving his mother Upper East Side townhouse with a black plastic bag days after she died following a fall down the stairs.

The 38-year-old has been travelling to his mother’s home regularly since her death on Thursday, ahead of her funeral later this week.

Wearing a blue shirt and black trousers Eric came out of the property, just days after paying tribute to her after the news of her death broke.

It is unclear if the family have removed any sentimental items belonging to Ivana from the property since her death.  

Eric and his siblings were quick to eulogize their mom in touching posts on social media in the wake of her passing. 

He looked distraught as he left, after the shock death of his mother when she suffered from a fall four days ago. A coroner ruled her death as ‘accidental’

Eric Trump, 38, was seen leaving his mothers apartment in New York on Monday carrying a black bag before getting into a car

Ivana’s youngest child Eric, 38, was seen outside his mother’s New York home last Thursday afternoon shortly after the news of her death broke. He issued a statement to DailyMail.com in the wake of Ivana’s passing, praising her as an ‘incredible woman’

The youngest child of Donald and Ivana Trump was seen climbing into a waiting vehicle outside of the townhouse where his mother was found dead 

On Thursday, an unidentified individual, center, leaves the residence of Ivana Trump with Trump’s yorkie dog called Tiger, following Trump organization executive Matthew Calamari, left, after Ivana’s death

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

Ivanka threaded her mother’s spirit to her past, in a post saying: ‘She came from a communist country. From denial. Being nothing. Having nothing. The Czech Republic background was her rationale for loving the fine things. For what was rich. What spelled glamour. Seeing the best is what defined who she was.’

Ivanka said her mom was ‘always there for us,’ and says ‘there were not too many like her in anyone’s life.’ 

She also talked about her mother’s career as a skier earlier in her life, saying ‘Before their marriage, my mother had become a world-class athlete… She learned about drive. She acquired grace where there was none.’

Ivanka described her mother as ‘energetic’ and ‘exhausting,’ and that she would ‘tire out people – even men younger than she.’ 

She also spoke about her mother’s time as a powerful member of Donald’s real estate empire, recalling ‘when they owned The Plaza Hotel, it wasn’t all comportment and grace. I would come from school and she’d let me run with her through the halls. I’d follow her.’

Her daughter also touched on Ivana’s love of finer things in life, saying ‘she loved the fine things and would criticize what she thought wasn’t.’ 

She reminisced over a story that showed her mother’s attitude towards imperfection, saying ‘in St-Tropez one day, I came down in what I thought was a pretty dress and she complained, ‘Your hemline is too long. Your dress hangs down too low.’ 

Eric paid tribute to his mother in a poignant Instagram post, highlighting the businesswoman’s tough upbringing and incredible journey to the US, having fled communism in Czechoslovakia before moving to Canada and then New York City’

He told how she ‘taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination’ in her children and said she will be ‘dearly missed’

Ivanka paid moving tribute to her ‘brilliant, charming, passionate and wickedly funny’ mother

She called her mother ‘one of a kind’ and said ‘when she arrived to get her nails done, they looked better than those on whoever was doing her manicure.’

‘My mother’s unbridled energy could be fun but there was so much chemistry that at times it could be exhausting for people younger than she,’ she said.

Ivanka said her family is ‘still trying to figure that out’ when it comes to deciding where to lay Ivana to rest. 

Representatives for Trump did not answer an immediate request for comment.

Ivana, who went on to marry two more times, kept her ex-husband’s last name through the years. 

Ivana claimed her daughter, Ivanka Trump (left), had a ‘fine’ relationship with her stepmother, Melania Trump (right). The pair are pictured together in January 2017 during the presidential inaugural parade for President Donald Trump

Ivana Trump passed away at the age of 73 after being found ‘unconscious and unresponsive at the bottom of a set of stairs in her apartment’. She was last pictured on June 22 in New York

Ivana fled Communist Czechoslovakia in 1971, resettling in Canada before she moved to New York to be with Donald.

She was briefly married to Austrian ski instructor Alfred Winklmayr, a friend with whom she tied the knot to gain an Austrian passport – and a one-way ticket to the West.

They divorced after less than two years.

Ivana herself worked as a ski instructor in Montreal in the early-1970s.

Ivana’s relationship with Donald Trump ended in havoc in 1990 after the future president cheated on her with Marla Maples, who would go on to be his second wife. Ivana, though, would get $14 million in the divorce settlement. She is pictured here with Donald Trump in September 1984

How model Ivana Trump won over Donald before he broke her heart by having affair with Marla Maples: She married total of four times and attended fourth husband’s funeral just eight months ago

Born Ivana Zelníčková on February 20, 1949, Ivana Trump grew up in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia. But her father encouraged her to learn how to ski, and as a member of a junior ski team, she was able to see life outside of communism.

By 1971, at the age of 22, she married Alfred Winklmayr, an Austrian ski instructor whom she considered to be a platonic friend but allowed her to escape communism without defecting so she could still visit her parents.

Almost immediately after she got her Austrian passport in March 1972, though, she got an absentee divorce from Winklmayr in Los Angeles, California, where he had moved to teach skiing.

She then went on to enjoy a romance with a ski instructor and boutique owner while living in Montreal before she relocated to Manhattan.

It was here that she first met Donald Trump as a model in 1976, recounting in her memoir how Trump secured her and her friends a table at a hot Manhattan restaurant, paid the check and chauffeured her back to her hotel in a Cadillac.

‘My instincts told me that Donald was smart and funny – an all-American good guy,’ she wrote in her 2017 memoir ‘Raising Trump.’

Ivana first met real estate tycoon Donald Trump in 1976 when she was working as a model, and the two were married just over a year later on April 7, 1977

Ivana’s relationship with Donald Trump ended in havoc in 1990 after the future president cheated on her with Marla Maples, who would go on to be his second wife. Ivana, though, would get $14 million in the divorce settlement. She is pictured here with Donald Trump in September 1984

She has since said she considers herself the ‘first first lady,’ having married Trump prior to his now-wife Melania, despite their tumultuous relationship and expensive divorce.

Ivana’s relationship with Donald seemed to begin well, with the two marrying just over a year after they met – on April 7, 1977 in a private wedding officiated by author Norman Vincent Peale.

Just a couple months later, in October 1977, the couple welcomed their first child, Donald Jr. They then went on to have Ivanka Trump in October 1981 and Eric Trump in January 1984.

At the height of their relationship, the two were business partners, working on some major projects like development of  Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the renovation of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and the construction of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

But by 1989, there started to be some trouble in paradise for the couple – as they were observed fighting while on vacation in Aspen, Colorado after Ivana discovered that Donald was having an affair with Marla Maples – who would go on to be his second wife.

The Chicago Tribune then reported in February 1990 that Donald had locked his wife out of her office at the Plaza Hotel, and soon legal battles ensued over the legitimacy of their four prenuptial agreements.

They were then divorced in December 1990, under the condition that Ivana had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

The New York Times reported in 1991 that the divorce settlement included $14 million, a 45-room Connecticut mansion, an apartment at Trump Plaza and the use of Mar-a-Lago for one month a year.

Ultimately, the divorce was finalized in 1992. 

Following their divorce in the mid-1990s, Ivana went on to marry Italian entrepreneur Riccardo Mazzucchelli in November 1995 and actor Rossano Rubicondi in 2008

International businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli was able to woo the newly-single Ivana Trump with his expensive belongings, as he drove a Rolls Royce and owned a pricey townhouse in London while also keeping an apartment in Manhattan

After that, Ivana became a celebrity in her own right, going on to star with Trump in a Pizza Hut commercial in 1995 in which she joked that she’s ‘only entitled to a half’ a slice, and appearing as herself in the 1996 movie ‘The First Wives Club,’ with Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn.

She tells the women in a short cameo: ‘Ladies, you have to be strong and independent.

‘And remember, don’t get mad, get everything.’ 

From there, she married Italian entrepreneur and international businessman Riccardo Mazzuchelli in November 1995, but the two divorced in 1997.

He had apparently wooed the newly-single ex-model with jewelry, according to People, as he drove a Rolls-Royce and owned a pricey townhouse in London while also keeping an apartment in Manhattan.

Following their divorce, Ivana, then 48, sued the 54-year-old entrepreneur for $15 million, alleging he breached the confidentiality clause in their prenuptial agreement, while he countersued her and Trump in a British court for libel.

That suit ended with an undisclosed settlement. By the summer of 1997 she began dating Italian aristocrat Count Roffredo Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona Lovatelli.

She then dated actor and model Rossano Rubicondi for six years before they married on April 12, 2008  — when he was 36 and she was 59. 

Their $3million wedding was attended by 400 guests at her famous ex-husband’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach and set to the theme of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream, with daughter Ivanka as her maid of honor.

They divorced less than one year later, but their on-again, off-again relationship continued until 2019 when she ultimately called it quits. 

But friends of the two said they had grown closer before his death from melanoma in October.