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SNL Cold Open Skewers Trump Over Oval Office Collapse, Shutdown Fallout, Rising Prices

The sketch recast a viral Oval Office collapse as commentary on the administration’s handling of the shutdown.

Overview

  • James Austin Johnson’s Trump is shown ignoring and stepping over a collapsed attendee, echoing a widely shared Getty image from the real event.
  • The scene is set at a weight-loss drug pricing presser led by an Eli Lilly executive with portrayals of Dr. Mehmet Oz and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  • Trump’s character mocks inflation concerns with lines about grocery prices having “plummeted straight up” and a dismissive stance on affordability.
  • Shutdown effects are played for satire, citing limited SNAP funding, canceled flights as unpaid air traffic controllers miss paychecks, and a Supreme Court pause on an order to reinstate benefits.
  • The bit references Zohran Mamdani’s election with remarks about his religion as a jab at recent electoral setbacks for the president.