In the latest ‘Saturday Night Live’ opening sketch, James Austin Johnson’s Trump ordered a strike on Santa’s sleigh and called the Epstein photos a ‘Democrat hoax.’
‘SNL’ mocks Hegseth, Trump over Venezuelan boat strikes in cold open
“Saturday Night Live” kicked off with a cold open starring Colin Jost as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivering a combative press conference.
President Donald Trump was the man behind the curtain in the latest “Saturday Night Live” cold open.
The show kicked off its Dec. 13 episode with a sketch featuring James Austin Johnson as Trump holding a press conference aboard Air Force One.
Johnson’s Trump, who partially hid behind a curtain and told reporters he “took both an Ambien and an Adderall,” was asked about a new batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate released by House Democrats, which show high-profile figures including Trump and former President Bill Clinton.
“The fact is, these photos are a fake news, Democrat hoax,” Johnson’s Trump said. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (played by Ashley Padilla) had to frantically step in after Trump changed his tune, saying the pictures are “100% legit” and admitted, “I’m in the files. I took a lot of great pictures!”
In the sketch, Johnson’s Trump also commented on news that the United States recently seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, with the president declaring, “We’re doing pirate now!” After noting that he has been “targeting suspected drug planes,” Trump showed reporters declassified footage of a drone strike on Santa Claus.
The cold open also featured Johnson’s Trump insisting that the economy is doing fine for everyone “from the billionaires all the way down to the poor, poor millionaires,” while maintaining he inherited a “mess of an economy from the awful presidents that came before me, like Biden and Trump.”
Another moment in the sketch referenced Trump’s recent rant against CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins. After insisting that he is “very nice to women,” he took a question from Collins and called her a “nasty, horrible witch.” Collins (played by Chloe Fineman) described this as “one of the nicer things that you’ve called me.”
The cold open ended with Trump saying that he has to begin his “pre-bedtime self-care ritual,” which involves “putting a bandage on my hand, then covering it with makeup, then adding more layers of bandage and makeup.”
“We should all be very worried about my health,” he added. “I’m very ill.”
“Wake Up Dead Man” star Josh O’Connor hosted the Dec. 13 episode of “SNL,” which featured musical guest Lily Allen. The episode was the second in a series of three consecutive weeks of shows to close out 2025.
Last week, “SNL” began with a cold open that addressed the Trump administration’s Venezuelan boat strikes. The sketch starred Colin Jost as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who chugged an energy drink before delivering a combative press conference about what he described as “Operation Kill Everybody.”
“Let’s just say if I had a drink for every Venezuelan we’ve killed, I’d really like that number of drinks,” he said.
Johnson’s Trump had a somewhat reduced role in last week’s cold open. Near the end of the sketch, Johnson’s Trump was shown to have been sleeping through Hegseth’s press event and muttering to himself about New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani while dreaming.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he said. “I’m very much awake. Now, someone quickly tell me: Where am I, who am I, and what year might it be?”
Who’s hosting ‘SNL’ next week?
“SNL” will wrap up 2025 with one final episode before going on its annual holiday break.
Ariana Grande is hosting the show’s Christmas episode on Dec. 20. This marks the “Wicked: For Good” star’s third time as host. She most recently hosted in October 2024 and in her monologue addressed her hopes that Kamala Harris would win the 2024 presidential election.
“The last time I hosted was in 2016, and we were right on the verge of electing our first female president, so I guess second time’s the charm,” she said, crossing her fingers.
The “SNL” Christmas episode will also feature Cher as the musical guest for the first time since 1987.
NBC hasn’t announced when “SNL” will return after Christmas, but the show is typically back with new episodes in mid-January.
Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Joey Garrison
