“Saturday Night Live” made a valiant effort to inject humor into the global economic chaos triggered by President Donald Trump’s unpredictable and ever-shifting tariffs.
The show’s cold open parodied the biblical “Cleansing of the Temple,” depicting Jesus’ actions to drive out the money changers from Jerusalem’s temple, whose focus on financial transactions didn’t align with the sacredness of the space.
“I will cleanse this place of all its wealth,” proclaimed Jesus, portrayed by Mikey Day.
Then came James Austin Johnson’s Trump: “Sound familiar? The money’s disappeared. Hi there! It’s me, your favorite president, Donald Jesus Trump.”
Johnson’s Trump acknowledged that his “wonderful tariffs” disrupted the U.S. economy.
Trump went on: “Many folks are even calling me the Messiah because of the catastrophe I, um, caused with the economy—all due to my wonderful tariffs. So lovely. They were so effective I had to halt them.”
He took credit for bringing the economy back to a patch of normalcy.
“Now everything is exactly as it was,” Trump declared, “minus a few trillion dollars.”
He brushed off inquiries about whether some members of his administration and close allies had made lucrative stock investments during the upheaval, labeling it “a monumental transfer of wealth from the middle class to my friends.”
“Oh well,” Trump remarked.
He redirected his rambling comments back to the theme of Easter.
“It’s true, the stock market pulled a Jesus,” Trump stated. “It died, then on the third day, it rose again. And on the fourth day, it fell yet again, possibly never to be revived, much like Jesus. Where is that guy? Come back. Help me escape this.”
Trump took a moment to express his disappointment that some individuals only attend church during Christmas and Easter. “Not me, I don’t go on those days either,” he said.
Jon Hamm hosted the night’s episode, while Lizzo served as the musical guest.
“SNL” is broadcast on NBC, a branch of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
