Ivana Trump rushed to the defense of The Donald on Tuesday, recanting a harsh report about their divorce and saying her ex-husband would make an “incredible” president.
“I have recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension,” the 66-year-old Czech-American told CNN in response to an article that said Ivana once accused Donald of raping her.
“The story is totally without merit,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
“Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally, I think he would make an incredible president.”
The Daily Beast posted a story Monday night rehashing the rape complaint, which Ivana made during divorce proceedings and which was included in a 1993 book, “Lost Tycoon.”
After the book was published, Ivana issued a statement — which was printed on the first page of the bio — saying she wasn’t using the word literally, but instead implying that she “felt violated.”
“[O]n one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage,” she said at the time.
“As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness which he normally exhibited towards me was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”
After being contacted by the Daily Beast about the ancient claim, Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump and an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, went into a tirade — blasting the site via email for targeting “a private individual who never raped anybody.”
“By the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse,” he argued. “It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And there’s very clear case law.”
In fact, marital rape is illegal in all 50 states.
Shortly after being published, Cohen’s comments went viral and sparked outrage online — leading him to issue an apology on Tuesday.
“As an attorney, husband and father, there are many injustices that offend me but nothing more than charges of rape or racism,” he told CNN in a statement.
“They hit me at my core. Rarely am I surprised by the press, but the gall of this particular reporter to make such a reprehensible and false allegation against Mr. Trump truly stunned me. In my moment of shock and anger, I made an inarticulate comment, which I do not believe and which I apologize for entirely.”
Ivana has three children with Trump: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, all of whom work with their father in The Trump Organization.