1998: Donald Trump’s Romantic Interest, Irene Saez, Lost the Presidential Election to Hugo Chavez

Donald Trump was owner of the Miss Universe Organization from 1996 to 2015. Irene Saez won the Miss Universe title in 1981, representing Venezuela. While Saez won before Trump’s tenure, she remained a prominent figure in the pageant world, appearing with Alicia Machado, who was also from Venezuela and was named Miss Universe in 1996, the year Trump took over. In 1997 Saez was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Miss Universe Pageant.

·       “Press reports were linking her to real estate tycoon Donald Trump. Irene said they were only good friends, but some reports breathlessly spoke of a ‘steamy romance’ and predicted that marriage was imminent. ‘Friends of Irene are saying that she has captured his heart just like she has captured the hearts of the Venezuelan people,’ the Caracas daily El Nuevo Pais wrote.” [1]

·       “When asked point-blank about their romance during a visit to Miami in September 1997, Saez giggled and said:” Donald Trump-Mr Donald Trump-is truly a gentleman who values the concept of friendship highly, as I do,” [2]

After spending 1982 traveling the world as Miss Universe, Saez studied for a masters in political science and then served a year as Venezuela’s cultural attaché to the United States. In the early 1990s, Saez turned to electoral politics and in 1992 was elected mayor of Chacao municipality in Caracas. She professionalized the police force and crime fell dramatically. In 1995, Saez was reelected as mayor with 96% of the vote. The Times of London ranked her 83rd in its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Two political parties (AD and COPEI) had dominated Venezuelan elections for forty years. However, because of corruption and their failure to deliver on promises to improve living conditions, AD and COPEI had totally lost support for the 1998 Presidential elections. Neither party nominated a candidate. The 1998 Presidential election was to be the year of independent outsiders. Irene Saez announced her candidacy after forming the IRENE political party. Early polls showed her as the leading candidate with about 70% support.

Hugo Chavez was a national hero as a result of his leadership of a failed coup to oust President Carlos Andres Perez in 1992.He was pardoned in 1994 and formed a political party MBR-200. Chavez announced his candidacy for the Presidency and initially polled at 5%.

Saez accepted the endorsement of COPEI and lost her credibility as an anti-establishment candidate. She slid to about 15% support in the weeks before the election. Chavez’s support steadily increased and he won the election with 56% of the vote. Saez finished in third place with 3% of the vote. Saez was elected governor of the state of Margarita Island with 70% of the vote in 1999. She stepped down in 2000 after becoming pregnant. Since 2003, Saez has lived in Miami.



  1. Jones, Bart, iHUGO!, Steerforth Press, 2007.
  2. The Spokesman-Review, Question Is, Has Irene Fallen for the Donald? September 15, 1997 

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