Grim theory behind why Donald Trump’s ex Ivana is buried at his golf club
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News
There have been many weird and wonderful conspiracy theories surrounding Donald Trump, but one that has people talking is about why his ex-wife is buried at a golf course.
People have been speculating whether both Donald and Melania Trump use body doubles, and many still aren't convinced Trump's ear was shot in the assassination attempt.
One of the strangest mysteries focuses on the final resting place of Donald Trump's ex-wife, Ivana, at his New Jersey golf course.
The pair were married from 1977 to 1990 and shared three children together, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
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After their divorce Ivana went on to marry Riccardo Mazzucchelli from 1995 to 1997, followed by Rossano Rubicondi from 2008-2009.
Ivana died at home in New York at the age of 73 after a fall, in 2022.
You might assume that Donald Trump would arrange a lavish and dignified final resting place for his ex-wife and mother of his children.
Instead, he had her buried in a plot of land at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where it now reportedly lies overgrown and uncared for, according to pictures from 2023.
Many people have been sharing possible theories as to why Trump chose this as the ideal burial plot for his former wife, and some think it may be for monetary gain.
Ivana was buried in a shimmering gold casket, and was taken from a funeral home to St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Melania Trump also attended the funeral mass alongside Donald to support her husband and his family.
It is reported that Trump first applied to have the golf course turned into a cemetery plot back in 2014, and intended to have a larger area of space where top golfers could choose to be buried.
However, it was said the request was denied, and a smaller space for up to ten cemetery plots was approved.
A tax code in New Jersey means that cemetery land is exempt from all taxes, rates, and assessments.
According to Insider, this code means they are exempt from real estate taxes, rates, and assessments or personal property taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, income taxes, and inheritance taxes.
Ivana is the first person known to have been buried at the golf course.
Brooke Harrington is a professor of sociology at Dartmouth college in New Hampshire.
She posted on X (formerly Twitter): "As a tax researcher, I was skeptical of rumors Trump buried his ex-wife in that sad little plot of dirt on his Bedminster, NJ golf course just for tax breaks. So I checked the NJ tax code & folks…it’s a trifecta of tax avoidance. Property, income & sales tax, all eliminated."
She also said Trump had buried Ivana in 'little more than a pauper's grave'.
In 2023, social media users shared pictures of the burial plot looking unkempt and overgrown.
Factchecking website Snopes confirmed the pictures were real, and that it did not look like the grave had been tended to.
Newsweek reports that while the plot of land on which Ivana's grave stands would be eligible for a tax break, it added 'developing such a tax-reduction scheme may be simply too elaborate and cumbersome, especially as it appears that Trump is already paying low taxes on the property'.
The benefits of such a scheme would also be limited, as all it would mean is that Trump could invest more money into the upkeep of the cemetery without paying tax on it.
Tyla has contacted Donald Trump's office for a comment.