SNL Links Epstein to Kennedy Center Name Change in Christmas Cold Open


For the final SNL of the year, President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) embraced a festive spirit by revisiting the topic of Jeffrey Epstein once more.

The cold open marked not the first occasion SNL brought up Epstein, even in cold opens. However, it was the inaugural episode since the recent unveiling of new documents related to Epstein on Friday, followed by the rapid withdrawal of some of those on Saturday.

Citing Trump’s Wednesday night primetime speech to the public, Johnson’s Trump was seen at the podium amidst Christmas decorations beside an elaborate fireplace. He talked about the recent renaming of the Kennedy Center to feature his own name and quipped that the same would occur with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. He stated he’s placing his name on so many structures “because we had to take it off of so many files,” alluding to the heavily redacted Epstein documents.

“We had so many Trumps in there, we had to relocate them,” SNL’s Trump remarked.

The meandering cold open also touched on Trump’s declaration of the Hunger Games-style Patriot Games, Venezuela, and curiously, the Indigo Girls. Yet, there was still room to embrace the season. “I’m doing my own rendition of Nativity now,” Johnson’s Trump mentioned. “Where kings from the Middle East bring gifts for me like gold and airplane and casino deal in Dubai.”