Vanessa Trump endured her husband’s philandering for years, but only filed for divorce last month as she and her family recently shared in a multi-million dollar windfall related to her late father’s investments, The Post has learned.
Vanessa Trump’s dad, Charles Haydon, died in February 2005, just months before Vanessa married Donald Trump Jr. — President Trump’s eldest son — in an elaborate ceremony at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, the Trumps’ vacation home.
Haydon was a storied Manhattan lawyer whose clients included Marilyn Monroe and Broadway producer and real estate mogul Abe Hirschfeld. He left an estate valued at $2.5 million to his wife Bonnie Kay Haydon, according to court records.
But documents filed in connection to Haydon’s estate in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court do not list any of the deceased lawyer’s assets. Sources close to the Haydon family said that their recent windfall came from stocks and other investments that had matured since Haydon’s death.
“I can’t speculate as to how much they received, but it was life-changing,” said a source.
Last fall, Bonnie Haydon, 71, bought a sprawling Fifth Avenue penthouse, paying $6.4 million in cash, according to public records. She purchased the lavish apartment from the widow of Fox News chief Roger Ailes.
With her family’s newfound financial security, an emboldened Vanessa, 40, finally filed for divorce from Trump Jr.
“There have been numerous affairs,” said the source. “This divorce has been in the works for a long time.”
The divorce is contested, according to a source close to the family, and lawyers from both sides are currently in negotiations over the custody of the couple’s five young children.
They are also wrangling over their prenuptial agreement — the same one used by President Trump in his marriages, the source told The Post.
After 12 years of marriage, the couple has three sons and two daughters, aged between 3 and 10.
In 2010, while Vanessa, a former model and actress, was pregnant with the couple’s third child, Trump Jr. allegedly had an affair with Aubrey O’Day, a singer and former Playboy model whom he met while she was starring in NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice.” The reality show was hosted by Trump Jr.’s father. Trump Jr. was an “advisor” on the program.
Haydon did not return messages seeking comment. David Feureisen, a Westchester lawyer close to the Haydon family who is representing Vanessa in her divorce, did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Calls to Blank Rome, the Manhattan firm representing Trump Jr., were not returned.
In a 2007 radio interview Trump Jr., now 40, joked about being invited to the Playboy Mansion with his pregnant wife.
“Can you believe the hell I’m going through?” said Trump Jr. to Los Angeles talk show host Adam Carolla. “I’m at the Playboy Mansion with a pregnant wife! It doesn’t get worse than that, does it?”
Additional reporting by Kathianne Boniello
