In its cold open, Saturday Night Live skewered President Donald Trump for seemingly falling asleep during meetings, and poked fun at his apparent bromance with Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City.
The latest episode began with Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, played by Colin Jost, appearing at a press conference to address the U.S. military’s strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean — which have been the source of significant controversy.
“Trump has my back 100%,” Jost’s Hegseth said from behind a podium, addressing reports that the president has distanced himself from the Pentagon chief.
“You wanna know why?” he added. “Because…he’s a high energy alpha who trusts me and listens to me no matter what. Isn’t that right Mr. President?”
The camera then panned to Johnson, who was dozing off in a chair — an apparent reference to the president’s Cabinet meeting this week, when he appeared to close his eyes for long periods.
“Stop Mamdani, you can freeze my rent anytime,” the pretend president said, dreaming of the Democratic socialist.
Trump recently hosted Mamdani at the White House for a lengthy meeting, described by some as a love-fest, during which the president predicted Mamdani will be “a really great mayor.” The sit-down was so friendly, that a FOX News anchor joked that it had left Vice President JD Vance feeling “jealous.”
In the sketch, Johnson quickly jolted awake.
“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.”
“I was just telling everyone here that I have your full support,” Jost’s Hegseth told the president.
“Abolutely, we love Pete, he’s a great guy,” Johnson said, while shoving the defense secretary off stage.
He then addressed the controversial second strike that the Pentagon authorized on on an alleged drug boat on September 2. The follow-up strike — referred to by some as a “double-tap” — was launched after two survivors were seen clinging to the wrecked vessel.
“It was just fog of war right? Fog of war. It’s a thing you only say after doing war crime,” Johnson said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “Right you never hear a general go ‘everything went according to plan in fog of war.’”
The spoof was a reference to Hegseth’s comments on Tuesday, during which he described the second strike as a decision made in “the fog of war.” He added that he did not personally oversee the attack, but that the admiral in charge, Frank “Mitch” Bradley, had made the right call and acted within the confines of the law.
Lawmakers viewed footage of the attack this week, with one Democrat describing it as “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.” Republicans largely backed up the Pentagon, with one calling the second strike “righteous” and “entirely lawful.”
At an event on Saturday, Hegseth refused to commit to releasing video footage of the strike, saying “We’ll see.” He added that the strikes — which have killed at least 84 people — will continue.
“I stand by Pete,” Johnson said in the sketch. “And nothing can change my mind unless of course it could hurt me in any way in which case I’ll throw him under one of Mamdani’s free buses.”
Earlier in the sketch, Jost’s Hegseth fielded questions from reporters, whom he relentlessly attacked.
“Now listen up, as you probably read in some gay newspaper, we’re now at war with Venezuela,” he said. “All you nerds are like ‘wait was there an official declaration of war?’”
“You got questions for me? Fine,” he added. “Pretend I’m a random fishing boat and fire away.”
A reporter then asked him if there was any truth to the allegations that the defense chief personally ordered survivors of a first boat strike to be killed.
“First of all, that kind of cruel heartless act has no place in Operation Kill Everybody,” he responded.
Another reporter asked for the fake Hegseth’s response to Democratic Senator Mark Kelly’s statement that he acts “like a 12-year-old playing army.”
“First of all, Kelly, that’s a girl’s name. What’s his first name: dress?” he said.
The cold open closed with a reporter asking Trump about a large share of the president’s own voters who blame him for the affordability crisis. When the camera cut to Johnson, he was once again asleep.
