Yahoo Lifestyle 'SNL' Roasts Trump's Busy First Week In Office In Founding Fathers-Themed Cold Open
“Saturday Night Live” set the stage for the second Donald Trump era during the show’s first episode since the president’s return to the White House.
The show pulled a bit of a bait-and-switch as they began its cold open with a scene of America’s Founding Fathers which featured a cameo by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The musical maven was on the brink of breaking out into song, as piano began to play, and he proclaimed, “In America we will never have a king.”
It was then that the show’s go-to Trump impersonator, James Austin Johnson, glided onstage to give everyone the rudest of wake up calls.
“Never say never,” declared a smug-looking Johnson.
While the pretend politician claimed he was “kidding, of course,” “SNL” Trump then gave the crowd a quick recap of his Monday inauguration.
“I’m my king era. But just like the Founding Fathers I am creating a new country as well. And just like them, we’re doing it very whitely,” Johnson joked.
“DEI is over, it’s dead,” he said, adding, “Workplaces must go back to looking like the TV show ‘The Office.’”
“Mostly white people but with one funny Black guy who’s having a really bad time.”
As Miranda stood glum and motionless in the background, Trump said, “Look at Lin, he got tricked into coming here and now he’s frozen onstage. Oh, he’s furious.”
Johnson’s Trump went on to describe his swearing in as a “tremendous success,” even though it was “inside due to cold and fear.”
Poking fun at “surprise” guest, wife Melania Trump, the faux Trump likened the First Lady’s much-discussed inauguration look to the character Kung Lao from “Mortal Kombat.”
Johnson’s Trump then addressed the “nerd herd” of tech executives who were front and center during the ceremony.
“Broligarchs before oligarchs!” he announced, referring to guests Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and “of course Elon.”
“We love Elon, but to quote some of his own children, ‘I do not want him in my life,’” the “SNL” Trump confessed.
Defending Musk’s own inauguration day controversy, Johnson added, “They said he did the Nazi salute. Not true, OK! He was simply creating a new greeting, a cross between hi and hello. We’re calling it a hiel.”
At that point, the Trump double was ready to offer the audience a run down of his first-week accomplishments, which included an executive order declaring the government only recognize two genders — what the character boiled down to, “One to work and one to cook.”
The president’s decision to withdraw from both the Paris Climate agreement and the World Health Organization also got the “SNL” treatment as Johnson celebrated the president’s use of “something I call the pull out method.”
“Something, frankly, I wish I did a lot more in the 1980s,” he said, before bellowing second son Eric Trump’s name.
Trump then turned his attention to Pete Hegseth, his pick for Secretary of Defense who was confirmed by razor-thin margins by the Senate on Friday.
Teasing the “SNL” cast, he asked, “Who’s gonna play Hegseth? I mean look at these guys back here. None of them got the build, nobody has the jaw. Got plenty of Zuckerberg options though. That’s gonna be a fight.”
At that point, the presidential impersonator turned back to Miranda, who was still standing statue-like behind him.
“Oh look at Lin,” he sighed. “Look how bad he wants to do a rap.”
While Trump noted how he was able to secure a ceasefire in Gaza but did little to nothing to reduce the price of eggs, he shrugged and admitted, “Might have to take the L on that one.”
Though he admitted he’d failed to chip away at grocery prices, Johnson’s Trump said his cabinet was exploring some “fabulous alternative egg options such as seagull or perhaps Cadbury.”
The “SNL” comic got in one last crack before the sketch ended, thanking his “good friend” Miranda, famously a die-hard liberal, for a “generous, anonymous” $1 million campaign donation.
“I know that was you, Lynn,” he said with a smirk.
At that point, Miranda had to break his silence, denying Trump’s claim.
Gleefully jeering back, Trump’s Johnson replied, “Your word against mine!”
While the fake Trump claimed he wasn’t trying to act like a king during this weekend’s “SNL” sketch, the president’s liberal use of executive orders during his first week has already earned a strong reaction from his Democratic opposition.
“It is a fire hose right now. That’s what he does. He creates a ton of chaos so it’s hard to keep up with it,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) told the press. “Everything is overload.”
You can watch the complete cold open above.
