Saturday Night Live: Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth Joke About Military Action in Iran
SNL Skewers Trump Amidst Failed Iranian Peace Talks
In a satirical turn of events, Saturday Night Live opened its latest episode with a sketch addressing the recent breakdown of marathon peace talks with Iran, just hours after Vice President JD Vance reported on the stalled negotiations. The skit featured James Austin Johnson portraying Donald Trump, alongside Colin Jost as Pete Hegseth, basking in the aftermath of the failed discussions and speculating about possible military action.
During the episode, Trump made a phone call from the Oval Office to Hegseth. The character, played by Jost, inquired, “Is it true what I heard? Are you actually negotiating with these herbs?”
Trump responded, “You know what? Don’t worry about the negotiations. I just heard they’re going really, really bad. I sent in my secret weapon, JD Vance. After those Iranians spent 20 hours to JD, they said, ‘Please sir, just go back to bombing us.’”
Hegseth’s enthusiastic reaction included the line, “Even hearing about someone getting bombed just made me hard as hell,” to which Johnson’s Trump replied, “That’s great, that’s great. I’m rigged as well.”
In a stark contrast to the upbeat humor of the sketch, Vance, from Islamabad, had announced around 9:30 p.m. ET, “the bad news is we have not reached an agreement.”
The satirical segment depicted Trump communicating with his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla), as he composed a controversial Truth Social post directed at Iran. The post included a now-infamous urging to “Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.”
Leavitt questioned, “You think I should type ‘Praise be to Allah’? And that’s from you, the president of the United States?”
Trump affirmed, “Yes. Yes. Allah. They say Allah. It’s a sarcastic attack on the world’s largest religion. They famously have a great sense of humor about that kind of stuff,” a reference to his actual Truth Social post.
The dialogue continued to highlight the complexities of Trump’s communication style, with Leavitt expressing, “As your press secretary, this puts me in a tough position.” Trump reassured her, “Oh, don’t worry about that, Karoline. Like I said to Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem right before I fired them, ‘You’re doing a terrific job.’”
Adding another layer of humor, Johnson’s Trump broke the fourth wall, pointing out, “All three of those were played by Ashley. It’s an interesting detail.”
In an unexpected turn, Trump conversed with golfer Tiger Woods (Kenan Thompson), asking if he would compete in the Masters that weekend. Woods reminded Trump of his recent DUI incident, to which Trump suggested, “You should have told the cops we were friends and they would have let you off.” Woods replied, “Well, I did, and they didn’t,” a nod to his past comments following the incident.
Trump’s interactions continued with First Lady Melania Trump (Chloe Fineman), who proposed making a statement denying ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump humorously reacted, “Darling, I got to admit, this sounds a little insane. Who are you? Me?” Fineman’s character continued to craft increasingly absurd statements, raising suspicions instead of alleviating them.
As the sketch concluded, Trump reminded himself of the pressing matters at hand, with a quip about “the war,” encapsulating the tense atmosphere surrounding national and global challenges. The skit combined humor and commentary on serious geopolitical issues, reflecting the show’s signature blend of entertainment and satire.
