S.N.L. opens 2026 with James Austin Johnson as Trump and multiple parodies

The first new "S.N.L." broadcast of 2026, hosted by Finn Wolfhard with musical guest ASAP Rocky, opened with James Austin Johnson portraying President Trump as he recapped a torrent of news. In the White House sketch Johnson held up a replica of a medal the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had presented to him and then tossed it aside, and joked that he had deposed Nicolás Maduro by running “a reverse Santa on him.” He introduced cabinet members he said were helping him do “so many legal-ish things to try to get people to stop talking about Epstein.” Cast bits included Marcello Hernández as Marco Rubio, who was cut off when he began speaking Spanish; Jeremy Culhane as the new Vice President Vance, inheriting a role Bowen Yang left in December; Ashley Padilla as Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem with a recruiting bit for I.C.E.; and Colin Jost as Defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who warned Iran “You don’t dare kill your protesters,” demonstrated with a kettlebell and prompted Johnson to quip that “midterms are canceled.” The episode also ran a "Stranger Things" parody and a Harry Potter send-up called "Heated Wizardry," and featured appearances by Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Kenan Thompson as Eleven, Jason Momoa as Hagrid, Sabrina Carpenter and musicians Danny Elfman and Thundercat performing with ASAP Rocky (with Winona Ryder in the songs video).

Key Topics

Culture, Saturday Night Live, James Austin Johnson, Finn Wolfhard, Stranger Things, Maria Corina Machado