Ivana Trump sums up her daughter Ivanka's and Melania Trump's relationship as just "fine." She went on to elaborate that this is because the First Lady is not the one who caused her bitter divorce with Donald.
In a recent profile of Ivanka by The Atlantic, Donald Trump's first wife spoke of her daughter and Melania saying that Ivanka "likes her fine," and this was because, according to her, the new Mrs. Donald Trump "didn't cause" her to "break up" her marriage like the "other one," whose name she deigned to say out loud.
Ivana was referring to Trump's second wife with whom he had a relationship with prior to the Ivana---Donald breakup.
Before Marla Maples and Trump got married though, the two had an illicit relationship while Ivana was still the latter's wife. In 1989, the real estate king had brought his family---Ivana and their three children, Ivanka, 8 years old, Donald Jr., 11, as well as Eric, 5---for the Christmas holidays to Aspen, Colorado.
It would have been the ideal family idyll, if it had not been for the fact that Donald Sr. had also brought along his 26-year-old mistress and lodged her not too far from where his wife and children were staying.
All hell broke loose when eventually during the trip, they all stumbled into each other at a restaurant in the area. What transpired next while all three children sat stock still in their seats is what Ivanka has revealed in the latest The Atlantic profile piece on her as being the turning point in her young life.
As for Melania, she has "always" had what her spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, referred to as a "close relationship" with Ivanka, and as per Grisham's estimation, that relationship remains the same to this day.
Although it had been reported in the past that the stepmother---stepdaughter relationship was "complicated," the two are said to get along better than it may seem. The "complicated" part has been put down to the understandable rigors of life in the White House.
In the report mentioned above, a certain situation had cropped up between Ivanka's and Melania's offices, which had called for then Chief of Staff for the White House John Kelly to take over and smooth out the occurrence.
Kelly had needed to sort things out with Ivanka's staff regarding the way that the two women's social media posts had once held similar-themed photos, each of themselves holding a small black child.
Melania's photo had been from her trip to Ghana in October of last year. Ivanka's on the other hand were from the time of the North Carolina devastation from Hurricane Florence.
Until now, it still is not clear why Kelly had to jump into the middle of all that, but it was because of that situation that the relationship between the two came to be seen as "complicated."
A source said to be close to Ivanka was also interviewed by The Atlantic and gave comment to the effect that both stepmother and stepdaughter want to stay "mutually respectful," although their relationship could not be called "affectionate."
Although these words are not exactly reflective of the sentiments Grisham has spouted between the two, it aligns somewhat with Ivana's calculations on the two being "fine" with each other.
