What's it like to have an affair with a married Donald Trump, then marry and divorce him,
then raise his youngest daughter on the opposite side of the country? Marla Maples knows.
A Southern belle from Georgia who had some success in beauty pageants,
Marla Maples hit the Big Apple in 1985 and, according to Vanity Fair, she dreamed of being
a soap star. The outlet noted that she immediately signed with agent-publicist Chuck Jones, who would
act as a support system and help her adjust to her new universe. Jones told the publication,
"Let me put it to you this way. She needed someone she could talk to, because if Marla meets some
guy on the street who claims he's a producer, who's she gonna call? Not the ghostbusters!"
"You know I'm a southern girl, I often just smile and keep going."
Others weren't so kind about her early years
in New York City. One anonymous source said in the same profile,
"There was nothing distinguishing about her except her genuineness. She was a sweet girl from
Georgia, all southern charm, the antithesis of high-society, megabucks-type people."
Maples and Donald Trump's love story started on Madison Avenue when "The
Art of the Deal" author bumped into her after he decided to walk down
the block instead of taking his usual limo ride. Maples told Vanity Fair,
"I had seen him at different places throughout the years and just said hello,
I was just somebody he shook hands with."
What happened next has three sides to the story because there were three people involved in the
love triangle. Maples claimed to the publication that they would meet up
at a church on Fifth Avenue, swearing they stayed friends for a long time.
But before long, Trump was parading her around his casino properties in Atlantic City,
New Jersey. The managing editor of Casino Journal claimed,
"Donald was [not very] discreet about it. He had her stay on the
Trump Princess all summer except when Ivana came."
If you ask his first wife Ivana Trump who was to blame for the entire situation,
it certainly wasn't her then-husband.
"I just think she's showgirl. I think she ruined my marriage and she doesn't deserve apology."
By 1991, with Donald Trump firmly on her arm, Maples went from a struggling actor
to starring on Broadway in "The Will Rogers Follies." Before she even went on the stage,
Trump was already singing her praises to The Washington Post, saying,
"I think she's going to be great. It takes a lot of guts too, but I think she's going to be great."
The newspaper also described her first entrance as a "scantily dressed" moment.
Maples fared better when she co-hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants during the days
her then-husband owned the shows. It was a natural fit going back to her pageant days,
and she was able to showcase her sweet Southern personality
even if her connection to the guy in charge helped get her the gig.
While she was with Trump, those major jobs seemed to come her way easily because he
either had a hand in producing them or he was able to leverage the publicity the two
generated any time they appeared in public. It worked well for them both — for a while.
In 1993, a major life milestone shifted every priority in Maples' life — motherhood. Of course,
her boyfriend Donald had something to say about the big day. He told the New York Daily News,
"This is the most amazing experience
I've ever had. Marla looks absolutely beautiful and the baby is gorgeous."
That baby was Tiffany Trump, who came into the world on October 13th,
1993. The newspaper pointed out,
"She has [...] many of her father's features. Everyone
agrees she has inherited the famous Trump lips."
As the outlet noted, Donald made it just in time for the delivery
via a chartered flight from New York to the birth in West Palm Beach, Florida.
For Maples, it was love at first sight. She was in awe of her baby
in the first six hours as the Daily News reporter witnessed
every intimate moment of a mother and newborn. Marla reportedly exclaimed,
"Look how she lifts her head up on her own. Isn't she the most beautiful baby you've ever seen?"
Just two months after Tiffany Trump was born, Maples finally got Donald Trump
to walk down the aisle and make her his second wife. This wedding didn't happen
easily because of one sticking point — the prenuptial agreement. Maples told Vanity Fair,
"We basically came to an agreement that for
the first few years we would agree on something and then tear it up."
That document would never be ripped up and the original ironclad arrangement
was what stood throughout their marriage. An insider claimed,
"Marla was under duress. Donald's position was:
without the prenup he wasn't going to get married."
The 1993 wedding at the Plaza Hotel in New York City went off without a hitch.
"He's a very strong person, he's a very loving person, but sometimes it doesn't come through."
As for the guest list? Well, as The New York Times reported,
the roster of people included future Trump enemy Rosie O'Donnell.
Howard Stern predicted the demise of Maples and Donald Trump's marriage to The New York Times
at the couple's wedding in 1993. He quipped that it would probably only last four months.
He was wrong about the length of the marriage, but correct about its eventual demise. And the
radio personality wasn't the only one who felt this way. Another source chimed in that the
businessman was prompted by financial reasons to end their marriage. The insider told the Times,
”It would be a huge mistake to do otherwise. Unless you're married
to someone you have 1,000 percent surety in, you just can't do that.”
How romantic.
Maples was also accused of having an affair with a
bodyguard, who ended up confirming the relationship to the National Enquirer.
After the divorce, Maples lived in Trump Tower temporarily and eventually decided
that she needed a new place to live where the Trump name wasn't on every building.
Maples packed her bags and didn't look back on her marriage to the real estate tycoon.
"I just think life is about being ready for anything,
you know, and where you gonna, where you gonna find the positive in all things."
With Donald remaining on the East Coast, his youngest daughter was
raised away from her half-siblings, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump.
Maples took on the full-time role of mom out on the West Coast,
and Tiffany Trump's childhood was relatively normal because she was raised outside the New
York City Trump tabloid bubble. The youngest Trump daughter told People magazine in 2016,
"Growing up in California, we were always together, driving me to school, carpooling,
singing songs, dancing around, me making fun of her dance moves."
She shared that when they lived in Calabasas,
they even counted the Kardashians as friends and neighbors. Tiffany apparently got chummy
with Kendall Jenner, thanks to her mom's friendship with Kris Jenner.
As a protective mother, Maples made sure to not let the Trump name loom over her
daughter's childhood. Tiffany went on to tell the magazine,
"She moved us out of New York to get out of the spotlight and let me grow up and
find my own identity versus being in the shadow of a name or growing up very young
with all that pressure. So, she wanted me to have a chance to have a normal
childhood. As normal as possible. I think that she did well in that."
Maples has been relatively close to the Trump family over the years,
geographically speaking. As the New York Post reported, she made her way back to
New York City when her daughter went to do her undergrad studies on the east coast.
After the Trump family headed to Florida in January 2021, Maples also went to the Sunshine
State. While she isn't in the Mar-a-Lago crowd like her daughter, she still packed
up her New York City apartment because, as she shared on her Instagram account that April,
"Change is really good for the soul, for the heart,
letting go of what you need to release, starting anew."
As of 2022, she seems happy to be a Florida resident with the year-round sunshine and a
fresh part of her life to explore. Maples wrote to her social media followers,
"Transitioning to a new life adventure with so much joy
and gratitude. Officially a Florida Resident,
though I look like I might've chosen Texas or Nashville instead, both were in the running."
Another exciting chapter in Maples' transformation story? Her role as
mother of the bride. Tiffany got engaged to Michael Boulos at the White House on
the last day Donald Trump was in office in 2021. She captioned an Instagram photo with:
"It has been an honor to celebrate many milestones, historic occasions and create
memories with my family here at the White House, none more special than my engagement
to my amazing fiancé Michael. Feeling blessed and excited for the next chapter!"
The wedding is set to be held at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022,
according to Page Six. According to a source cited by the outlet, both Maples and Donald
have reportedly even teamed up to help out with the wedding planning. The insider revealed,
"There has been a lot of planning and a lot of staging. This is Tiffany's big moment,
and it will be lavish. It is going to be a huge and beautiful affair."
And as for how the future mother-in-law feels about Tiffany's next chapter? By all accounts
she's thrilled, telling Town & Country that she adores her daughter's fiancé.