Donald Trump Jr., wife headed for divorce after 12 years
Donald Trump Jr.'s wife took legal steps on Thursday to formally end their
12-year marriage, and the couple issued a statement saying they're going their
separate ways but "will always have tremendous respect for each other and our
families."
Vanessa Trump, a former model, listed the breakup as "uncontested" in a state
Supreme Court divorce complaint filing that is secret except for the title of
the case.
The Trumps, each 40 years old, were married in 2005 and have five children.
Their first child, a girl born in 2007, made a grandfather of Donald Trump a
decade before he became president.
In a statement issued through The Trump Organization, where Donald Trump Jr.
is an executive, the couple said in part: "After 12 years of marriage, we have
decided to go our separate ways. ... We have five beautiful children together
and they remain our top priority."
The divorce filing comes as Trump Jr. has emerged as a central figure in at
least one focus point of the special counsel's investigation into Trump ties to
Russia: a June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower involving a Russian lawyer and top
campaign aides that, according to Trump Jr.'s emails, he accepted after being
promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival.
Trump Jr. was an enthusiastic mainstay on the campaign trail during his
father's 2016 march to the Republican presidential nomination and then the
presidency and now co-runs the family business with his brother Eric Trump,
overseeing a global empire that includes hotels, golf courses and a winery.
He is a popular GOP fundraising draw and has expressed political ambitions of
his own, though he has drawn criticism for peddling online right-wing and
alt-right memes.
Vanessa Trump's engagement and marriage to Trump Jr. had been a subject of
tabloid fascination in New York long before her father-in-law, who has been
divorced twice and married three times, entered politics.
At the time of their engagement, there were unflattering stories about how
Trump Jr. had accepted a free diamond ring from a jewelry merchant in New Jersey
in exchange for staging a recreation of his wedding proposal outside the store
for reporters and TV cameras.
But soon, Trump Jr.'s name was more often associated publicly with his
appearances alongside his father on "The Apprentice" or as a judge at beauty
pageants.
A profile on the couple by The New York Times in 2006 reflected the
lightheartedness and pressures of the pair's early days and led Trump Jr. to
reflect on the spotlight that fell on his father anytime the family business
soured or he confronted divorce.
"Sometimes being a Trump, everyone kind of wants to see you fail," Trump Jr.
told the newspaper.
The article said Vanessa Haydon Trump grew up in a town house on Manhattan's
Upper East Side, and it recalled her amusement at their initial 2003 meeting
when Donald Trump introduced himself and his son to her, only to return later
and say: "I don't think you've met my son Donald Trump Jr." The Times quoted
Vanessa Trump as responding: "Yeah, we just met, five minutes ago."
When the young couple met again at a party six weeks later, they didn't
remember the earlier meeting until they talked for an hour and Vanessa Trump
suddenly recalled that encounter, the newspaper said.
Last month, Vanessa Trump opened a letter to her husband containing an
unidentified white powder and was briefly hospitalized as a precaution, but the
substance turned out to be nonhazardous. A Massachusetts man later was charged
with sending the threatening letter.
Source: Associated Press
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