Jon Stewart, 63, gets why first lady Melania Trump, 56, works fewer days than he does.
A listener wrote into The Weekly Show podcast asking whether the disparity concerns him.
“It doesn’t concern me; she’s younger than me,” Stewart, who now hosts The Daily Show just once a week on Mondays, said. “What is she going in now, once every two weeks?”
Stewart said he doesn’t blame Melania for staying away. The White House’s constant state of demolition makes the once-pristine grounds hectic and unpleasant, especially compared with the Trumps’ property in Mar-a-Lago.
“By the way, would you go there?” Stewart said of the White House. “It’s a construction site. Why would you go there? ‘You know where I’d like to live? In that place where they just demolished, and there’s, like, a 40-foot sinkhole right outside.’ The scaffolding is up, and the construction project is going on, and I’m sure she’s like, ‘I got a perfectly nice house down in Florida, and I don’t have to deal with this guy!’”
The Daily Beast reported that the first lady had worked just 38 days during the first seven months of 2026.
The comedian also pushed back at the idea that Melania rarely works. He said that being Donald Trump’s wife is a “grueling” job by nature.
“I think it’s a misnomer to say Melania Trump doesn’t work,” he said. “Being married to that dude is, I’m sorry, but that’s like what you hear about how they put finance bros through those training programs where they’re like, ‘It’s a hundred and sixty hours a week.’ Married to that dude, that’s the most grueling job in America. That’ll wear anybody down.”
He added, “I just feel bad,” before changing course. Melania’s agency in her position means he doesn’t feel sorry for her. He also joked he would take down “her beautiful hat highlighted by a sconce” in his house.
“No, you know what? She knew what she was signing up for,” Stewart continued. “F--- it, I take back my empathy. My empathy is now gone. Empathy gone!”
