Saturday Night Live opened its latest episode with a cold open that mocked both First Lady Melania Trump's unsolicited statement on Jeffrey Epstein and the ongoing US-Iran peace talks. The sketch featured Ashley Padilla as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, setting up President Donald Trump's infamous tweet threatening to destroy Iranian civilization before a two-week ceasefire.
James Austin Johnson's Trump then made a brief call to Tiger Woods (Kenan Thompson) about the golfer's recent DUI scandal, before receiving an unexpected call from Chloe Fineman's Melania Trump. The first lady proposed holding a press conference to deny any connection to Epstein, and suggested also distancing herself from the Gilgo Beach serial killer.
Johnson's Trump called the idea 'a little insane', warning it would make people 'way more suspicious'. He quickly ended the call and rang Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost), whose ringtone was Smash Mouth's 'All-Star'. When asked about Iran, Jost's Hegseth claimed the country was 'as obliterated as me every Saturday night, allegedly'.
The fake Hegseth expressed frustration over negotiations with Iran, but Johnson's Trump revealed he had sent Vice President JD Vance as a 'secret weapon', claiming that after 20 hours of talking to Vance, the Iranians begged to be bombed instead.
