Marla Maples has denied cheating on Donald Trump with Michael Bolton during their wedding, saying she dated the singer but “always remained faithful” to her former husband.
Trump's mistress and second wife spoke about her love triangle before her departure from Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday and hinted that her ex has her vote in the upcoming 2024 election.
Maples, 60, was dressed casually in a taupe knit sweater, dark flared jeans and white sneakers as she waited in line to check in her luggage.
She had coffee in hand and was heading through security when she encountered a paparazzo who asked her about her relationship with Bolton, now 70, in the 1990s.
Marla Maples, 60, spoke about her love triangle with her ex-husband Donald Trump, 77, and singer Michael Bolton, 70, at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday
A paparazzo asked her about old FBI files that alleged she had an affair with the heartthrob while she was dating Trump, now 77, her first and only husband
“He's a dear, dear friend.” “We dated years ago,” Maples said of Bolton. “Never [I was] married. No, I've always been loyal to Donald. “Michael was a wonderful person in my life”
The photographer pointed to old FBI files that alleged she had an affair with the heartthrob while she was dating Trump, now 77, her first and only husband.
'What?' Maples asked, laughing. “He's a dear, dear friend.” “We dated years ago.”
“Never [I was] married,” she added. “No, I was always loyal to Donald. “Michael was a wonderful person in my life.”
Bolton revealed last week that he was diagnosed with brain cancer before the holidays, requiring “immediate surgery,” which was a “success.”
“I just found out. “I heard he has a wonderful girlfriend, so I wish him nothing but the best,” Maples said of her ex and his new love, socialite Heather Kerzner, 54.
The actress shared that she “didn't speak to him” but “definitely prayed for him” after learning of his health concerns.
As for the upcoming presidential election, Maples hinted that she would support her ex-husband, who is currently the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
“I'm trying not to be political, but I love this country and I know this family is here for our country,” she said. “I believe I will do my best to help this country in any way I can.”
Trump was fully aware that Maples (pictured in 1992) had a date with the famous crooner and defended her actions in a 1994 Vanity Fair profile, saying he had “left her like a dog.”
Trump admitted he didn't want Maples to date Bolton (pictured in 1991) and won her back. They married in December 1993, two months after the birth of their only child together, Tiffany Trump
Former President Trump poses with Bolton and his future wife Melania at an event at Mar-a-Lago in 2000, also attended by Ghislaine Maxwell (right).
Maples was reunited with her ex-husband at her daughter Tiffany's wedding to Michael Boulos in November 2022 (pictured)
When the photographer asked who she would support in the election, she shyly said: “Guess what.”
The referenced FBI documents detailed the 1996 investigations into and at the request of both the Trump Organization and Trump Management Company.
The findings were released in 2019 and revealed that Maples' former publicist, Chuck Jones, testified in court: “She had brought singer Michael Bolton back to her room after Trump's departure for a trip to the West Coast.”
However, Trump was fully aware that Maples had a date with the famous crooner.
In Maggie Haberman's book “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America,” she wrote that Trump allegedly broke up with Maples by FedEx while she was staying at an entertainment executive's home in California.
In return, Maples entered into a relationship with Bolton.
Maples was also asked about Bolton's recent brain tumor diagnosis. He underwent “immediate surgery” before the holidays, which he said was a “success.”
“I just found out. “I heard he has a wonderful girlfriend, so I wish him nothing but the best,” Maples said of her ex and his new love, socialite Heather Kerzner
The actress shared that she “didn't speak to him” but “definitely prayed for him” after learning of his health concerns
In a 1994 Vanity Fair profile, Trump defended her actions while bragging about how he dumped her and then won her back.
“She was very hurt,” he told the magazine. “Michael Bolton calls Marla and says, ‘Marla, I’d like to take you out.’ And he falls madly in love with her.
“Now I say to myself: Wait a minute. I don't like that. Michael Bolton – he's got the best damn album in the world, Time, Love and Tenderness, and what that does for a guy like me, a competitive guy, is like confirmation that the girl must be so great because the No .1 singer fell in love with her.
“There's nothing wrong with what she's doing.” I left her. Not only that. I abandoned her like a dog.
“So what happens is I say, ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I do a Trump number on her. Enveloping. I'll call her. She says, “How could you have left me the way you did?”
“She decides to go to Hawaii with me instead of going to Europe with Michael Bolton.” In Maui, this guy finds out where we are and starts sending flowers. Yellow roses with a note: “I have Georgia on my mind. Love, Michael.”
“She is torn. I left her twice. But she drops him and comes back to me.'
Trump aides told Haberman that the businessman took Maples to one of Bolton's concerts “as a sign of dominance” over him.
Trump and Maples married in December 1993, two months after the birth of their only child together, Tiffany Trump.
As for the upcoming presidential election, Maples indicated she would support Trump, who is currently the front-runner for the Republican nomination
“I'm trying not to be political, but I love this country and I know this family is here for our country,” she said. “I believe I will do my best to help this country in any way I can.”
When the photographer asked who she would support in the election, she shyly said: “Take a guess.”
They separated after just four years of marriage, and the timing was no coincidence. She would have been entitled to more money if they divorced after five years of marriage.
According to the former couple's leaked prenuptial agreement, Trump offered Maples just $1 million if they separated within five years and another million dollars to buy a house.
He also paid Tiffany $100,000 in child support every year until she turned 21. If she took a full-time job or joined the military or Peace Corps, he would stop payments entirely.
Trump entered into a comprehensive confidentiality agreement that did not allow Maples to publish “diaries, memoirs, letters, stories, photographs, interviews, articles, essays, reports or descriptions … whether fictionalized or not” that contained details of her marriage.
Their divorce was finalized in 1999 and Trump married his third wife and future first lady, Melania Trump, née Knauss, in 2005. The following year they welcomed their son Barron.
Maples moved to Southern California, where she raised Tiffany as a single mother. She later followed her daughter back to the East Coast when she began her studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She never married again.
Trump also has three older children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, with his first wife, Ivana Trump, who died in July 2022.