Overview
- James Austin Johnson reprised his Trump to lead a mock cabinet briefing, boasting about “someone else’s Nobel Prize” and claiming “we got Maduro.”
- The sketch lampooned immigration enforcement in Minnesota through a Kristi Noem segment that praised ICE and riffed on recruitment stereotypes, played by newcomer Ashley Padilla.
- Colin Jost returned as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pairing a kettlebell bit with brash lines about Venezuela and a taunt aimed at Iran.
- Marcello Hernandez played Marco Rubio and Jeremy Culhane portrayed JD Vance, with a callback to Trump publicly reading a note from Rubio.
- The cold open aired January 17 and drew coverage for stitching recent viral moments to satirical takes on the administration’s foreign and immigration posturing.