First lady Melania Trump says her family time is taking a hit, and she pointed to her husband's late nights in the Oval Office as part of the reason.
Appearing Wednesday on Fox Business' "The Big Money Show," Trump was asked by co-host Taylor Riggs whether she still manages Sunday dinners or time with her son, Barron, and what advice she had for mothers stretched thin, the Express reported.
Her first tip was to put family time on the calendar, because everyone in her household is so busy. Then she described what that looks like in practice.
"My husband is working - sometimes he's in the Oval Office until 9.30 at night, so do you wait [until then to] have dinner? You don't. He's busy, I'm busy too," she said.
"It's less and less the family time; it's suffering because of it. But that's okay. We are here to work, to do a good job, and that's what matters," she added.
She suggested Barron, now a student at New York University, may not mind the distance, saying her grown son is sometimes happy that she is busy with her own work.
Earlier that day on "Fox & Friends," the first lady described her husband as working nonstop from morning to evening, and offered a lukewarm verdict on his second term, saying he is doing "the best that he can."
Critics online showed little sympathy.
"Poor Melania...she says she's suffering. Honey...not nearly enough," wrote Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson.
Journalist Lesley Abravanel called the first lady's comments a case of "ghouls will ghoul," while a progressive commentator known as JoJo from Jerz wrote that the first lady "should stop trying to sue single mothers who make fun of her, maybe that would help."
The interview was meant to promote Imperia, her new network for women executives, which she launched earlier that day by ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, IBTimes UK reported.
The remarks mark a shift in tone from January, when she told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo, who has since left the network, that a child Barron's age needed a parent there nonstop.
The first lady has stepped back into the spotlight after a summer in which critics noted she went a month without a public appearance. This week, she co-hosted the White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, where the president offered guests a tour of his unfinished ballroom.
