‘SNL’ Donald Trump Defends Accepting Free Qatari Plane
James Austin Johnson’s Trump broke the fourth wall in his final cold open of the season
Saturday Night Live started its season 50 finale with another Donald Trump cold open. Played again by James Austin Johnson, Trump was accompanied by Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, played by cast member Emil Wakim.
“I didn’t make this trip for myself,” Trump said. “I want to make that clear. I did this for the American people, and in many ways, myself.”
Referring to the ongoing scandal of Trump wanting to accept a luxury plane from Qatar, Trump added, “I did very well on this trip. Got a lot of cool stuff! The Qataris gave me a $400 million plane, can you believe that?”
“And people said that was some sort of bribe,” Trump said. “Not true. Because they haven’t asked for anything in return.”
“Well, not yet,” said the crown prince with a smile.
Trump further defended his acceptance of Qatar’s plane bribe, in a joke referencing the ongoing staffing shortages at the FAA and the chaos at Newark Airport.
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“Now people are saying I should really be flying in an American plane. No thanks, Sonny!” Trump said.
“Have you seen what’s going on with our planes? The radar is down and the screen is blank. Newark!” Trump said.
Wakim’s crown prince later announced that Saudi Arabia has made a deal with Trump to buy “$1 billion worth of aircraft from Boeing.”
“Your funeral!” said Trump.
After some more riffing from Trump, he soon broke the fourth wall to bid farewell to the audience for the summer.
“I can’t even stay in this sketch much longer,” he said. “I’m going to have to leave because it’s the SNL finale. Season 50. Worst one yet.”
Sitting down with the audience, Trump said, “Since it’s a finale, that means after tonight, you won’t be seeing me for a while.”
“Well, not the fake fun version of me that makes you smile,” Trump added. “The real one will still be omnipresent. You can’t escape me, right? I’m everywhere… Even in your dreams like the late, great Freddy Krueger.”
Trump concluded to viewers, “So, see you again in the fall, if we still have the country, right? It’s a coin toss.”
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