“Saturday Night Live” cast member James Austin Johnson returned as Donald Trump during the latest episode’s cold open to give his version of the president’s recent “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
During the sequence, Johnson as Trump stood at the podium recreating Trump’s announcement in the Rose Garden, joking that his tariff plan will “make America Great Depression again.”
Last week, Trump announced 10% tariffs on all imports into the United States, and even higher tariffs on goods from about 60 countries or trading blocs that have a high trade deficit with the US.
“We’ll be the ones eating the cats and the dogs,” Johnson as Trump joked on “SNL,” referencing Trump’s comments about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio during the presidential debate in September.
Johnson as Trump also said no country is “safe” from his tariffs, including an island uninhabited by humans called McDonald Island, a place he said he’d like to visit.
“Can you imagine that, a Big Mac in a Hula skirt? Ooh la la,” Johnson as Trump said, showing artwork that had imagery of the American fast food chain.
“Get me to God’s country,” he added, referencing country singer Morgan Wallen’s Instagram story that he posted last week after he abruptly exited the “SNL” stage without acknowledging the other cast members following his appearance as that episode’s musical guest.
A source familiar with the situation that Wallen walked close to the side of the camera at the time since he used the same path to enter and exit the studio all week during rehearsals.
On the latest episode, “SNL” alum and comedic actor Mike Myers also made his return as Elon Musk in the cold open, this time wearing a cheesehead hat saying he’d just come back from Wisconsin, where the real Musk had been involved in the state’s Supreme Court election.
Jack Black hosted the episode – for the first time in 20 years – with Elton John and Brandi Carlile serving as the musical guests.