Saturday Night Live wasted no time diving back into the political deep end.

President Donald Trump and numerous high-ranking officials were raked over the coals in a punishing Saturday Night Live cold open.

Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth joined James Austin Johnson's President Trump for a jam-packed cabinet meeting in tonight's "SNL" cold open.

The first SNL Cold Open for 2026: Jeremy Culhane's VP JD Vance, Ashley Padilla's Kristi Noem, Trump canceling the 2026 midterms, and more.

Saturday Night Live returned for the first time in 2026 this weekend, with Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard hosting and A$AP Rocky as the musical guest. It was the 998th episode of the sketch comedy show, with actor Alexander Skarsgård slated to host the monumental 1000th episode on January 31 alongside musical guest Cardi B.

Saturday Night Live returned with a cold open once again featuring Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), this time boasting along with Vice President JD Vance and his cabinet members about his latest moves, furthering his presidential authoritarianism.

Wolfhard plays a kid who wants to go on tour with his "indie" band but needs the blessing of his father, a former Boy Band member. It does not go well, although there's one amusing moment when Ashley Padilla (who plays the Mom) slaps Finn for correcting her about the Pixies.

In the first "Saturday Night Live" episode of the year, cast members mocked Trump over his handling of Venezuela and the ICE shootings in Minneapolis.

SNL' mocked President Trump's egomania around the Nobel Peace Prize and Kristi Noem's response to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis in its cold open.