"He did not know how to speak the children's language. He was not able to do it until the kids were in university," Ivana told John Catsimatidis on AM 970's "The Answer" in an interview that aired Sunday.

Trump recently released the book "Raising Trump," which details her life, raising her children and parts of her marriage to the real estate mogul turned president.

Ivana told Catsimatidis that after the end of her 16-year marriage to her husband, she decided that she would be her young children's sole caregiver.

"I told Donald, ‘There can only be one chef in the kitchen,' " she said. "And it was me."

ADVERTISEMENT

"I kept them busy, busy, busy," Ivana said proudly. "Because if you keep your kids busy they have no time to get in trouble."

"Number two, you don't give your kids too much money," she continued. "Ivanka had singing classes, piano classes, ballet classes. The boys had hockey classes, karate classes, skiing classes, golf classes, tennis classes. You try everything, and then you watch to see what the kids are good at … Ivanka, for example, she did not like the piano classes, so I cut them off. She did not enjoy it. And I know if you don't enjoy what you're doing, you can never be great at it."

The first children are "fabulous" and "accomplished," Ivana said. "I'm very proud of them and Donald should be too."

Ivana Trump was married to Donald Trump from 1977 to 1992, after which she wrote a self-help book titled "The Best is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again" in 1999.