Laura Benanti and Stephen Colbert Bring Back Melania 2.0: ‘You Can’t Spell Grift Without Gift’ | Video

Stephen Colbert will be going live on Tuesday night after President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress. So on Monday night, the CBS host made sure to bring back First Lady Melania Trump 2.0 to tease what to expect.

“Hello, Stephen. It is a pleasure for you to see me again,” Laura Benanti began the “Late Show” bit, reprising the character she’s played since 2016. “That’s right, Stephen. This is Melania 2.0, and it is giving background actor on ‘Suits’ or lawyer for tables.”

“Yes, I have been splitting my time between Mar-a-Lago, The White House and Camp David,” she explained when the comedian questioned where she’s been. “Camp David is when I imagine I am camping with David Beckham. Toast my marshmallows, David. Bend me like Beckham.”

But it hasn’t been all fun and games and being best for Melania. She’s put in some work, noting, “I had a great talk with Elon Musk about eliminating federal jobs — hopefully starting with First Lady.”

And while the general public had some sympathy for her the first time around, that doesn’t seem to be the case in 2025. But Melania doesn’t seem to mind using her husband’s supporters: “Their money is just a gift to me. After all, you can’t spell ‘Grift’ without ‘Gift.’ And you can’t spell ‘Gift’ without ‘If.’ But ‘If’ will never become ‘I’ because I don’t give a F.”

“The state of our union is the same. He reaches for my hand, I smack it away. He goes for the other hand, I twist it away like this. He goes for a kiss, I duck and move,” she shared in a further update. “You will hear whatever bullcrap flies out of his mouth. But I’ll be hearing Sabrina Carpenter play in my secret earpods.”

But ultimately, Melania said we’re all in for the next four years together. “Oh Stephen, I don’t like to get involved in politics — except for the money I make from it,” she concluded. “But if I had to say my own State of Union, I would say America is a lot like Melania: trapped in a bad relationship with Donald Trump, just praying he doesn’t screw us anymore than he already has.”

“The Late Show” airs weekdays at 11:35 p.m. ET on CBS before streaming on Paramount+.

The post Laura Benanti and Stephen Colbert Bring Back Melania 2.0: ‘You Can’t Spell Grift Without Gift’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.