In a biting satire that has captured political attention, Saturday Night Live's latest cold open sketch mercilessly mocked the Trump administration's evolving stance on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, featuring a fictional president offering to sell the confidential files for $800 as Christmas gifts.
Multiverse Theories and Stocking Stuffers
The sketch, which aired on Sunday 16 November 2025, portrayed President Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, facing tough questions about his administration's contradictory positions on releasing Epstein-related documents. The fictional Trump initially denied knowing Epstein well, despite what he described as "thousands of pictures of us together dancing and grinding our teeth at various parties."
In one particularly absurd moment, the SNL version of Trump attempted to explain his administration's shifting narrative by invoking what he called "the Trump multiverse theory." The character claimed that different versions of Trump exist across multiple timelines, suggesting "we just happen to be living in the worst possible one" when confronted with contradictory statements about whether Epstein was ever a member of Mar-a-Lago.
White House Press Secretary Joins the Fray
The satire extended to other administration figures, with Ashley Padilla portraying White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referencing Ghislaine Maxwell's unusual interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Maxwell, an imprisoned Epstein associate, gave a sworn deposition to Trump's former criminal defence lawyer in July 2025, and has since been unexpectedly moved to a lower-security facility while planning to seek commutation of her federal prison sentence.
SNL's Leavitt declared, "Ghislaine Maxwell said in a sworn deposition she gave to Trump's friend that Trump always acted like a gentleman, and a little thing about me: I believe women," highlighting the administration's controversial handling of the Maxwell case.
Real-World Political Fallout Intensifies
Beyond the comedy studio, the actual Trump administration faces mounting pressure over Epstein-related disclosures. Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee released previously undisclosed emails where Epstein claimed Trump had knowledge of his activities, including that he "knew about the girls" and was the "dog that hasn't barked."
The political controversy has created unexpected divisions within Republican ranks. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, typically a staunch Trump ally, has accused the president of making a "huge miscalculation" by dismissing attempts to publicly disclose the Epstein files. This criticism prompted a fierce response from Trump, who called Greene a "traitor" and suggested he might endorse a primary opponent to remove her from Congress.
With the House back in session following the government shutdown, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is advancing efforts to vote on a proposal that would force the government to release more Epstein documents, ensuring the controversy remains at the forefront of American politics.
