Ivana Trump, President Donald Trump's first wife, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday that the billionaire builder could have run for the White House 20 years ago, but he was too disliked by American women for dumping her for actress Marla Maples.
The scandal was splashed across the front pages of New York tabloids in the early 1990s.
Ivana, in her new book "Raising Trump," portrays herself as the real commander-in-chief when it came to raising three children with the future president, whom she describes as something of a cad for breaking up their 15-year marriage.
"Donald got [a] letter from President Reagan, and he said, 'You should run for president,' and that was 20 years ago," she told ABC.
"And I think he could do it if there would not be a scandal. … You know, because every American woman hated him, and every American hated him. There was no way he could run during the scandal time."
Ivana was married to Trump from 1977 to 1992. Trump's marriage to Maples lasted from 1993 to 1999. He married first lady Melania Trump in 2005.
When it came to their three children, Ivana was in charge while Trump was like an absentee dad making deals, but making no time for the kids.
"He was a loving father, don't get me wrong, and he was a good provider, but he was not the father which would take a stroll and go to the Central Park or go play baseball with them or something," she said.
"It was only until they were about 18-years-old [that] he could communicate with them, because he could start to talk business with them. Before, he really didn't know what conversation to strike with the little kids."
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