President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were riotously roasted in Saturday Night Live’s cold open, which excoriated them for their roles in the overnight attack on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces.
The sketch satirized a real-world escalation — the U.S. and Israeli military strike on Iran known as “Operation Epic Fury” that occurred just hours before the broadcast.
‘Bored of Peace’
“Good evening and happy World War III to all who celebrate!” Trump — played by James Austin Johnson — announced at the start of Saturday night’s episode. “It’s me, Donald Trump FIFA Peace Prize winner and Nobel Peace Prize taker!”
The sketch jabbed at the president’s recently created Board of Peace, saying, “I launched this attack after me and my Board of Peace decided that we were bored of peace.”
The comics then alluded to the speculation by critics that “Operation Epic Fury” was a “wag the dog” operation to deflect and distract from the president’s plummeting poll numbers, exposure in the Epstein files and a faltering economy.
“As we all know, Iran has been two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon for, like, the last 15 years or something, so we had to act now. And we’re doing war. War! What is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein Files!” the president said in the skit.
“People are asking, ‘Why attack Iran now?’” fake Trump said. “Well, we had to strike in the early hours of Saturday, which has two advantages militarily. One, it’s after the stock market closes for the weekend, and two, it’s to cause immeasurable fear, rage and chaos in the SNL writers’ room. Those guys were going crazy! They probably had a big State of the Union address thing they were goanna do. Not anymore!”
Portraying a hyped-up Hegseth, SNL’s Colin Jost jumped in.
“As you probably heard, ‘Operation Epic Fury’ is underway,” fake Hegseth said. “And as you could tell from the veins in my neck, I’m pumped! Why’d we call it Epic Fury? Simple. Eight letters. Lines up perfectly for some b—–’ knuckle tats!”
“Bottom line, all of you should be thanking us. We took out a horrendous, horrible leader who was oppressing his own people. But don’t get any ideas!” Johnson added.
A 2011 clip of Donald Trump criticizing Barack Obama — in which he claimed Obama might start a war with Iran due to a “lack of ability to negotiate” — aired during the sketch and later went viral as viewers drew comparisons to current events.
Many SNL viewers felt the humor was jarring, given that the strikes had occurred less than 24 hours prior. Some users praised the “hauntingly accurate” portrayal of the administration’s rhetoric, while others compared the show to the “orchestra on the Titanic,” entertaining while a crisis unfolds.
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