SNL mocks Trump's trip to the Middle East and $400 million Katari Jets controversy
“Saturday Night Live” calls President Donald Trump's recent trip to the Middle East, resetting what the administration calls its main foreign policy.
The Cold Open was James Austin Johnson and a fictional crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as James Austin Johnson. The sketch hints at the unlikely brother.
“Of course, we're kidding together now, but we're excited,” Johnson's Trump quipped, as if describing a new romance.
He added: “Of course, I'm a big fan of everything Saudi Arabia has to offer, from oil to money. To-the end of the list.”
SNL said Trump has been in office for “100 years” while mocking the pope's ambitions and executive order fanaticism.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a “coffee ceremony” held at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 13, 2025. (Getty Image)
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In fact, Trump returned to Washington, touting three major multi-billion-dollar investment deals from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which he said would strengthen the U.S. economy.
SNL's Trump suggests his motives aren't that patriotic.
“I didn't do this trip for myself. I figured it out. I did this for the American people. In many ways, I am my personal richness. I did it too. I did it well on this trip,” he brags.
The show also capitalizes on the controversy over a gifted $400 million aircraft from Qatar to the United States, a matter that has now been under review by the House Democrats.
Ratings of “Saturday Night Live” logged in during the 2024 election cycle
The fake president is dead. “Not really, not really, because they haven't asked for any reward yet. Well, not yet. OK, so this is a pre-serve.”
The real Trump defended accepting the plane in an interview with Fox News chief political host Bret Baier on Friday, calling it a “good deal” and noting delays in Boeing's new Air Force One project.
SNL then mocked Boeing's recent safety panic and the country's aging air traffic control system. Johnson's Trump complains that he prefers the Katari jets over the U.S. planes.
He said: “Did you see what happened to our plane?
The second part of the episode, led by host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny, also failed Newark's radar, turning the issue into a comedy rap about a disturbing landing site while the pilot was cut off by the control tower.
Saturday Night Live – Episode 1878 – Picture: (LR) James Austin Johnson plays Donald Trump and Marcello Hernández, playing Marco Rubio on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Heath/NBC will be performed via Getty Images)
Trump's opening sketches are wounded in the typical stabbing of the president and his daily media.
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“Since it's an ending, it means you won't see me here for a while after tonight. Well, not the fake, funny version that makes you smile. The real person will still be everywhere. You can't escape me, to me everywhere.”
Before signing the summer interruption, Trump’s fictional version quipped: “If we still have a country, see you again in the fall.”
