Saturday Night Live wasted no time lampooning the tense and bizarre Oval Office meeting between former President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The cold open transformed an already surreal diplomatic moment into late-night gold of sharp satire with absurdist humor.
James Austin Johnson reprised his eerily accurate Trump impression, opening with a dig at Zelensky’s signature casual attire. “Thank you for coming, President Zelensky, dressed as casual Star Trek,” Johnson’s Trump quipped before pressuring the Ukrainian leader to apologise — to Vladimir Putin.
“President Zelensky, maybe tell Mr Putin how much you love him and that you’re sorry you invaded Russia?” he suggested, mirroring Trump’s recent eyebrow-raising rhetoric.
Bowen Yang’s JD Vance took the absurdity up a notch, whining about the lack of compliments. “You didn’t say anything about us being handsome. ‘Who are my handsome little boys?’ You didn’t ask us that once,” Yang’s Vance pouted, playing up the Ohio senator’s eager-to-please demeanor.
SNL aces it
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Adding to the chaos, the sketch included an unexpected cameo from SNL alum Mike Myers, who gleefully embodied Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk. His exaggerated South African accent and awkward attempt to explain the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had the live audience in stitches.
The sketch ended with Trump chastising Zelensky’s wardrobe choices, echoing real-life MAGA complaints. “It’s disrespectful. Who shows up to the White House in a T-shirt and jeans like a garbage person?”Beyond the laughs, the satire hit on a real issue of the widely criticised Oval Office meeting that underscored tensions in US foreign policy. If nothing else, SNL proved once again that in politics, truth is often stranger (and funnier) than fiction.
