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.
Former President Donald Trump was seen returning to his old New York City residence on Monday, days before ex-wife Ivana’s funeral service

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
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk