legantly clad in a black sweater and slacks, Blaine Trump luxuriates on one of her oversize chaise lounges in her Manhattan pied-a-terre. She is chatty and welcoming, eager to talk about her fun, active new life in Miami; her beloved charity, God’s Love We Deliver; and how this apartment in the Gainsborough Studios on Central Park South suits her New York needs to a T. It has been nearly ten years since Trump’s painful, public split after 21 years of marriage to Donald’s younger brother, Robert Trump, and her discovery that what she most needs is sunshine, an active life, art, basketball and casual get-togethers with good friends has been a real eye-opener for her. A longtime major fixture on New York’s social circuit, she hasn’t entirely cut the cord, but says she’s getting to the point where she rarely even puts on an evening dress anymore—a loss for the rest of us, since she was uniformly stunning in them. Blaine Trump has returned to her sunny Southern roots, and, it seems, found her bliss. “When I found myself single again,” she says, offering a candied nut, “I went to Miami because I wanted to get strong physically and mentally. It felt like I was going home. It was really the beginning of a wonderful new life.”
“I’VE EDITED MY LIFE IN A LOT OF WAYS.”
—Blaine Trump
Trump moved to Miami full-time eight years ago, and these days returns to New York once in the spring, once in the fall, when she hosts the gala for God’s Love, and for the Christmas holidays to see her son, Christopher Retchin-Trump. But it is clearly Miami that has helped her regain her strength after a series of personal losses, and has now captured her heart. “It’s so stimulating,” she says. “There’s a wonderful mix of different cultures and points of view, and Art Basel has really notched up the art scene. There’s everything there: great chefs, great architects, great ballet.” And, it needs to be said, great basketball, even if her beloved Miami Heat has lost LeBron James and some of their dominance this year. An avid basketball fan, Trump met her current life partner, entrepreneur Steve Simon, at a Miami Heat game, and they’ve been enjoying those games together ever since. It was their mutual friend, Miami Heat (and former Knicks) coach Pat Riley who Opposite page: Blaine is wearing an introduced them, and though they went slowly at first, it turns out they have more off-white cape by Valentino, price upon than basketball in common. They both love waking up to the sun and the ocean, request at valentino.com and Saks Fifth Avenue; winter white pants taking bike rides and playing tennis. After licking their wounds over their beloved by Sportmax, price upon request at sportmax.com and Saks Fifth Heat’s loss in the playoffs last year, the two travel buffs spent two months visiting Avenue; six-piece bangles by 29 cities in Europe with just a duffel bag each. More recently, they spent a glorious Jennifer Fisher, price upon request at jenniferfisherjewelry.com; 18k gold, month in Florence, Italy, studying, painting and drawing. diamond and colored stone cleo wrap ring by Marli, $1,950 at marlinyc.com.
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