Trump’s son and wife to get divorce after 12 years
THE wife of Donald Trump’s eldest son filed for divorce after more than 12 years of marriage last night.
Vanessa Trump is said to have lodged papers against Donald Trump Jr at the Manhattan Supreme Court.
She is requesting uncontested proceedings, meaning she does not want a legal battle over their shared assets, the New York Post reported.
This would also avoid an ugly battle over custody of their five children – two daughters and three sons aged between three and 11.
Mr Trump Jr is said to have been living apart from Mrs Trump and she has grown weary of the attention that comes with being associated with the famous family. The divorce documents were filed a day after the couple’s potential split was reported for the first time.
A source said: ‘The problems have been there for a long time, the couple had hoped to stay together during the President’s time in office, but it is getting harder to resolve their issues.’
The source added Mr Trump Jr, 40, was ‘never there’ because he has been away a lot on official business for his father.
Mr Trump Jr and his brother Eric, 34, are running the Trump Organization, the family real estate business, while busy in the White House.
Mr Trump Jr is also a keen hunter and regularly goes off on shooting trips in the countryside. Mrs Trump, 40, a former model, is said to be uncomfortable with the intense focus on the Trump family that the Presidency is bringing.
Last month she opened a letter addressed to her husband which contained a white powder and an explicit threat.
She was taken to hospital as a precaution and the NYPD said the powder was non-hazardous.
A friend said the experience was ‘terrifying for Vanessa, who is naturally worried for the safety of her children’.
Last year Mr Trump Jr asked for his secret service protection to be removed so he could move around more freely.
But a consequence was that a rotating cast of agents were left guarding his family rather than a familiar team, which his children found destabilizing.
Last month the 24-hour protection was restored.
Mr Trump Jr and his wife married in November 2005 at his father’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Yesterday Mrs Trump was seen wearing large dark glasses, a puffy black jacket, blue jeans and trainers outside her Manhattan apartment.
Secret service guards were seen taking in empty suitcases, suggesting she may be heading away with her children.
A separate source said that Mr Trump Jr had not actually moved out of the family home and was a ‘good dad and is super involved in his kids’ lives’.
The source said: ‘ He has always travelled for work, so his current schedule is not something out of the ordinary.’
No one at the Trump Organization was available last night and Mrs Trump declined to comment.
‘Problems for a long time’