On a crisp December night, NBC’s Saturday Night Live kicked off the December 13, 2025 episode with a Cold Open that casts Donald Trump into the cockpit of a mock Air Force One. James Austin Johnson embodied the former president, delivering a performance that leans into self-mythology while the comic gears test the limits of the Trump persona. The setup places Trump at an improvised press conference, purportedly addressing a fresh batch of Jeffrey Epstein photos that had dominated headlines in the weeks leading up to the broadcast.
In this parody, Trump proclaims the Epstein files are a “fake-news Democrat hoax” while boasting about the “great pictures” he took, a wink to the way he has framed his own role in the ongoing media saga. The joke-work relies on Johnson’s Trump delivering grand statements amid a flurry of nonverbal quirks and odd rhythms that fans recognized from the real figure. Ashley Padilla, as Karoline Leavitt, steps in as White House press secretary attempting to steer the conversation toward policy and a semblance of order, even as the congresswoman’s persona is used to lampoon Trump’s combative press style.
The gag reel is built around a few signature bits: a running joke about a “medical lasagna” hand routine that plays off Trump’s reported bruised hand in the nation’s headlines, and a mock-serious exchange that riffs on his relationship with reporters. A visual centerpiece—condoms labeled “I’m huge”—nibbles at the casually hyperbolic self-absorption that the sketch writers want audiences to recognize as satire rather than a factual portrait.
As the scene unfolds, Chloe Fineman’s Kaitlan Collins adds a layer of newsroom scrutiny, peppering Trump with questions while the room’s energy straddles the line between farce and pointed social commentary. By the sketch’s end, the cast brings the audience back to reality with a faux closing line about the importance of transparency, letting the satire acknowledge that the Epstein photos will linger in political theater even as the screen fades to a Weekend Update banner.
The Cold Open sits within a broader cultural moment, using the Epstein photo releases and Trump’s public responses as fuel for a piece of political satire. It mirrors the real-world media cycle—where headlines, memes, and televised narratives intertwine—and demonstrates SNL’s ongoing tradition of lampooning public figures amid fast-moving news cycles.
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