President Donald Trumpwas the man behind the curtain in the latest "Saturday Night Live" cold open.
The show kicked off its Dec. 13 episode with a sketch featuringJames Austin Johnsonas 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 anew batch of photos from Jeffrey Epstein's estatereleased 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!"
Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's TV and movie recommendations right in your inbox
In the sketch, Johnson's Trump also commented on news thatthe 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 recentrant 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'Connorhosted the Dec. 13 episode of "SNL," which featured musical guestLily Allen. The episode was the second in a series of three consecutive weeks of shows to close out 2025.
Last week, "SNL" began with acold open that addressed the Trump administration'sVenezuelan boat strikes. The sketch starred Colin Jost as Defense SecretaryPete 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.
'SNL' mocks Hegseth,Trump over Venezuelan boat strikes in cold open
Johnson's Trumphad 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?"
Josh O'Connorrecalls 'Knives Out' line he found 'profound and true'
Who's hosting 'SNL' next week?
"SNL" will wrap up 2025 with one final episode before going on its annual holiday break.
Ariana Grandeis 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 featureCheras 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
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'SNL' cold open mocks Trump over new Jeffrey Epstein photos
