SNL skews Trump over Epstein files in divisive cold open

Saturday Night Live opened this week with a cold open that skewered President Donald Trump in the wake of the Justice Department’s release of the Epstein files, a heavily redacted document dump that critics say underscored the president’s claim to transparency.

In the sketch, comedian James Austin Johnson parodied Trump, lampooning the president’s repeated assertion that he is the most transparent in history as hundreds of pages in the Epstein documents appeared with redactions. Johnson’s Trump joked from beside a large file covered in redactions around the words “Trump Didn’t Do Nothing Bad,” saying, “We released all the files, and I come out looking, frankly, very good.” He added: “See, it’s all there. Can you believe it?” The impersonation continued with the line, “With regard to files, we’re being very transparent… Because Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible man, and I didn’t know him, and I liked him a lot.”

The cold open expanded into a broader gag about Trump’s branding moves, including a jab at renaming the Kennedy Center to add the president’s name to the façade. Johnson’s Trump quipped that the institution would become the “Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts No Homo,” noting the renaming as part of a running joke about how many buildings his administration allegedly renamed. The bit showed images of historic sites with presidential names, and the Trump impersonation quipped further about renaming monuments such as the “Trump-Washington Monument” and the “Trump Lincoln Memorial,” illustrating the satirical take on self-aggrandizement.

The impression also leaned into Trump’s well-known, circuitous talking points, with Johnson’s version suggesting the real Trump has difficulty sticking to a thread. The character bragged about taking cognitive tests while mixing in pop-culture refrains, including a riff that parodied Nativity imagery by imagining foreign dignitaries presenting gifts, but in a tongue-in-cheek twist, the gifts were described as unrelated to religious themes. The impersonation culminated in a cadence about daily cognitive testing and familiar missteps, a nod to the president’s past references to mental fitness.

Reaction to the sketch was mixed among viewers and commentators online. Some supporters of the president on social media criticized the performance as weak and uncharacteristic of the show’s best writing, with one self-described MAGA follower on X calling it “as weak & pitiful as SNL has ever been.” Others pressed back, arguing the show has historically targeted a broad political audience, while some observers noted that the Clinton side of Epstein’s file history received less attention in the bit than Trump’s role did, fueling debates about which figures were represented.

Observers also flagged omissions, arguing that the Epstein files—released in a broader DOJ document dump—featured appearances by multiple figures, including former President Bill Clinton, which some critics felt were underrepresented in the sketch. Critics and fans alike underscored the tension between the sketch’s critique of Trump and the broader political context surrounding the Epstein disclosures.

Beyond the comedy itself, the episode’s framing arrived amid continuing debates about the tone and targets of late-night satire. The Epstein-file release, with hundreds of pages and substantial redactions, provided fresh material for late-night writers to mine—while also inviting scrutiny over which figures are lampooned and how minds are formed in political humor. As SNL’s take drew attention, it reflected a broader cultural conversation about transparency, accountability, and how political figures are portrayed in entertainment. The episode’s reception highlighted the ongoing divide over the balance between satire and partisanship in a media environment that remains highly engaged with both politics and pop culture.