--- title: Melania Trump Goes On Colbert to Spoof Trump Book description: Laura Benanti reprises her parody of Melania Trump on The Late Show canonical: https://time.com/5098656/melania-stopped-by-colbert-to-correct-some-fire-and-fury-passages/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-11T15:30:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:22.578Z og:title: 'Melania Trump' Fact-Checks Michael Wolff's Book for Colbert og:description: Laura Benanti reprises her parody of Melania Trump on The Late Show og:url: https://time.com/5098656/melania-stopped-by-colbert-to-correct-some-fire-and-fury-passages/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Melania Trump' Fact-Checks Michael Wolff's Book for Colbert twitter:description: Laura Benanti reprises her parody of Melania Trump on The Late Show twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 'Melania' Stopped By Colbert to Correct Some _Fire and Fury_ Passages > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: Michael Wolff on "Fire and Fury" [Watch (HLS stream): Michael Wolff on "Fire and Fury"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x6FmR1D6.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2018-01-09. Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury has become the defining book of the year-old Trump administration._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 11, 2018 3:30 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jan 11, 2018 3:30 PM UTC “First Lady Melania Trump” (played by actor Laura Benanti) stopped by _The Late Show_ on Wednesday night to correct a few passages from [Michael Wolff’s](http://time.com/5094085/fire-and-fury-michael-wolff-interview/?iid=sr-link7) bombshell book [Fire and Fury.](http://time.com/5098171/fire-and-fury-randall-hansen-book-michael-wolff/?iid=sr-link3) The fake First Lady—who appeared on the White House lawn clutching a spoon that she swore she did not use for “digging”—called it both a “fake book” and “pure fiction” adding that “every single word in it is lie.” “So you didn’t cry on Election Night?” asked host Stephen Colbert asked regarding a passage where Donald [Trump](http://time.com/5097122/president-trump-time-year-one-cover/?iid=sr-link1) Jr., allegedly told a friend that Melania was “in tears—and not of joy.” “No, that was true,” the faux Melania told Colbert. “But they were tears of happiness. You know, like you do at your wedding or every morning in the mirror.” Melania noted that she’s not always crying tears of happiness though and White House watchers should keep an eye out for her other look—the “dead-eyed stare of contentment.” Colbert had one more of [the book’s claims](http://time.com/5092923/fire-fury-michael-wolff-publisher-trump-unconstitutional/?iid=sr-link8) to ask Melania about, though. “Is it true, as the book claims, that everybody who knows Trump calls him an ‘idiot’?” Colbert asked. “Not everybody,” Melania replied. “One of the grandchildren can’t even talk yet!” ## Transcript Since Donald Trump is the main character in all of our lives, it turns out that most everyone is interested in this story. They may actually not be interested in any other stories. This is it. This takes all of the air out of the room. It's not implausible that Donald Trump could have been a A successful president. I felt genuinely at the start of this administration, that the press had made up its mind. And I had not, I had no idea what I would find, literally no idea. I'm just the guy there who's Goes in and is looking, and listening, and trying to write this down. This is not about my opinion of Donald Trump. This is about the opinion of the people around him, the people closest to him, the people who have to run the country's business. This is a White House where everybody is speaking constantly to To reporters, to anybody who will listen, they have a need to talk, they have a need to understand, I think, what they themselves are doing. What are they doing there? In the way I came to admire the people in the White House, and that's a funny kind of thing because on one hand I might also think, They shouldn't be there. They should look at this and then they should say this is bad, I'm not gonna support this and I'm gonna get out of there. But on the other hand, I saw a lot of these people come to the conclusion they're important now. They are the bull work between this guy Who they think can't do this job and getting the job done or at least, dare I say, protecting the country from the man they work for. I have said from the beginning. I've spent approximately three hours with With Trump since the campaigns of June 2016 through till now I; m completely comfortable with my familiarity with Donald Trump a president of the United States cannot restrain anything from publication. So I don't have any fear of this. At the same time, this is the President of the United States. I mean there is some reality there. The most powerful person in the country has focused on me, in this case. And you think, okay, this is Kind of preposterous, but is it? 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