Socialite and former model, Vanessa Trump became famous through her association by marriage with the famous Trump Dynasty. She has since risen beyond the fame her marriage afforded her to become a celeb in her own rights. Still, much of her popularity came from the light that shone on the Trump family especially after the Patriarch’s emergence as the president of the United States. Vanessa Trump got even more famous when it came to light in 2018 that she had reportedly had enough of the Trump family and had filed for a divorce to end her marriage to Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald John Trump Jr.
Beyond her divorce from Donald Trump Jr. and the many other things about her that it unearthed, she has been a person of interest to many people as it seems inevitable to miss the spotlight as a member of the Trump Dynasty much less when you decide to ditch. However, she has been able to maintain her celebrity status with her activities in the world of entertainment and equally, by living the life of a socialite which is not new to her, as she comes from an influential family.
Vanessa Trump Was Born Into An Affluent Family
Vanessa Trump was born Vanessa Haydon on the 18th of December, 1977, in New York City and was brought up alongside her sister, Veronika Haydon on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Her father, Charles Haydon is late but while he lived, he was a renowned solicitor with a several of high-end clients and her mother, Bonnie Haydon, who is of Danish origins ran a modeling agency called Kay Models which was most likely where young Vanessa got her first exposure to the world of modeling. Vanessa had her early education at the Dwight Private School and proceeded to Marymount College where she studied Psychology.
The socialite had an ideal childhood coming from a well to do family and growing up with her sister, Veronika whom she shares a close bond with.
She First Gained Media Attention For Her Modeling And Acting Works
Vanessa, along with her sister, started out their modeling days together back when they were younger and participated in several events in their teens which further developed their knowledge of the modeling world. Having developed some skills on what to do as a model, Vanessa Trump’s professional career in modeling took off proper when she was signed by Wilhelmina Models – while in her twenties.
Much later in life, she would try her hands out at acting with her debut appearance in the 2003 film Something’s Gotta Give alongside stars Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. She also appeared on The Apprentice in 2004 and Bret Michaels: Life as I know it (2010). Vanessa’s incredible desire to attain success in life made her partner with her sister Veronika in a joint venture to open a club in the year 2003. She also released her own line of handbags called La Poshett in 2010 – which is defunct now.
Having previously worked as a model and owned a line of handbags, Vanessa Trump earned a good income for herself. More so, it was later revealed that the former model received a huge inheritance from her father after his death. In all, Vanessa Trump has maintained a reasonable financial status and it is speculated that her net worth is above $5 million.
The Former Model Had a Colorful Dating History Before Meeting Trump Jr.
Prior to meeting Donald Trump’s son, Vanessa had reportedly been in different other relationships. She even nearly got hitched at some point but things didn’t work out well. Here are all the deets about her dating life.
Valentine Rivera
Vanessa Trump was known to have had a high school lover by the name of Valentine Rivera who spent most of his time behind bars due to his membership with the ‘Latin Gang’. While together, Vanessa was reportedly behaving like her gangster boyfriend. The two were into each other at the time such that when Rivera was jailed on assault charges, she visited him twice before she was forbidden by her mom from making such visits. They had a five-year affair before the actress allegedly fell in love with hunk actor, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Next, Vanessa Trump was rumored to have dated popular actor Leonardo DiCaprio in 1998 when she was making waves as a Wilhelmina model but this was never confirmed. The speculations were initially born of a picture found on the Internet, as the two were sighted at a movie premiere party getting cozy. However, none of the parties involved made any statement about the speculations.
Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud
Still, on the list, Vanessa dated and lived with Saudi Prince, Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud. The relationship was serious at the time and was heading towards marriage but all that came to an end after the September 11 attacks when the prince left the USA with his father who was then a Saudi Ambassador for the United States, as he was suspected to be indirectly connected to Al-Qaeda.
She Got Acquainted With Her Ex-husband Through His Father
Vanessa Trump and Donald Trump Jr. met when they were introduced in 2003 by the latter’s father. While nothing happened at the time of their first meeting, however, they met again after some weeks later and they found a connection. They started dating and by November 2004, they were engaged. The two became man and wife the very next year at an event that held at the Trump family’s Mar a Lago Club in Florida.
The union was blessed with five children; Kai Madison Trump (born in 2006), Donald Trump III (born in 2009), Tristan Milos Trump (born in 2011), Chloe Sophia Trump (born in 2014), and Spencer Frederick Trump (born in 2015).
Why Vanessa Decided To Part Ways With The Trump Family
On March 15, 2018, it was reported that Vanessa had filed for an uncontested divorce in court in New York because she was fed up with the constant media attention as well as Trump Jr’s alleged extramarital affair with Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Aubrey O’Day in 2012. It was also reported that Donald Trump Jr’s bad habits might have resulted in the undoing of his marriage.
Prior to tying the knot with Don, the comely actress was reportedly advised against it by her friends as the then couple was already having problems during their courtship. While they were married, sources claim that the actress was put on a strict budget by her estranged husband who has a reputation of being cheap following his agreement to propose to Vanessa at Bailey & Biddle Jewelry shop located at Short-Hills Mall in exchange for a $100,000 engagement ring from the jeweler.
She was said not to have lived a lavish life while being married to Don and was treated like a second-class citizen by him. It got so bad that at some point she was allegedly getting financial support from her mother. With so much trouble going on in their marriage, Vanessa Trump separated from Trump Jr several months before filing for divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court in early 2018.
A Peek Into Her Divorce Settlement
Although the actress filed for an uncontested divorce, it was later discovered that it was contested by the Trump family. At first, the former couple couldn’t reach an agreement on the issues of child custody, division of marital assets, as well as child support payments. Trump Jr. allegedly tried to get his hands on the socialite’s newly found wealth through legal means but his request to determine her personal assets pertaining to their divorce settlement was ultimately denied as third-party gifts are not inclusive.
Before the separation, Vanessa inherited an undisclosed amount of money said to be running in millions of dollars from her late dad’s investment at Rao’s Specialty Food as the company was sold for $415 million in 2017 and Vanessa Trump’s father had about 30 percent stake in the company. Vanessa and Don eventually settled amicably in late 2018 and collaborated on a custody agreement for their children, committing to co-parenting with each other.
However, the exact details of their marriage settlement were not made public as Donald Trump Jr. and the former model entered into a confidentiality agreement.
