SNL cold open takes aim at Trump over heavily redacted Epstein files

Saturday Night Live (SNL) closed 2025 with an intentional and directed message for President Donald Trump, which focused on the renaming of the Kennedy Center and the release of the convicted s*x offender, Epstein’s files. 

In the cold open, James Austin Johnson, enacting Trump, addressed the nation with a “holiday message” in the White House.

During his speech, James, as Trump, spoke in defense of his decision to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Trump-Kennedy Center, implying he was going to set out on a mission to rename multiple monuments because he had to take his name “off of so many files.” 

It was a direct reference to the many redactions in the newly released official documents about Jeffrey Epstein. 

The cold open’s Trump went on to declare that he would launch his “own Hunger Games” to keep the public’s attention away from the Epstein files. 

SNL’s James Austen Johnson as Donald Trump speaks out about Jeffrey Epstein in the cold open, saying he liked him “a lot”

The cold open started with James’ Trump telling the audience that as Americans, they needed to be “vigilant” this year or else the “arctic immigrants” would barge into their homes and steal their “milk and cookies.”

He then declared that he now does his “own Nativity,” in which kings from the Middle East bring him presents, including “casino deals in Dubai.”

“But unlike Nativity, they’re not showing up on camel. And I know camel, I know it very well. I know it from my mandatory daily cognitive test. I always point right to camel. I always get camel right. It’s bumpy horse, that’s how I know,” he added.

James then swiftly moved on to the topic of renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to “The Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, No Homo.”

It was a direct reference to the change in names brought into action after the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees unanimously voted on it on December 18, 2025. 

The board helmed by Trump comprises members chosen by the President himself. 

White House Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press statement that the Center’s name was changed “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building.”

Shortly after revealing the new name for the Center in the cold open, SNL star James made a witty comment, noting that he, as the President, was going to rename many other important buildings in the future, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Statue of Liberty, because he had a purpose behind it. 

“You know, people are saying, ‘Sir, why are you putting your name on so many buildings?’ And I say, ‘It’s because we had to take it off of so many files. Epstein. Redacted.’ We had so many Trumps in there, we had to put them somewhere,” James’ Trump said. 

However, in an interview with ABC News on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied claims of redacting Trump’s name from the Epstein files. 

“So, there’s no effort to hold back or not hold back because of that and – and so – but again, we’re not, we’re not redacting the names of famous men and women that are associated with Epstein,” Blanche said.

Back in the cold open, Trump declared he was going to invent his own Hunger Games, noting that his office planned on organizing a high school event for athletes called the Patriot Games. 

According to him, inviting a “bunch of teenagers” to his residence would be the “best way to distract from the Epstein files.”

“With regard to files, we’re being very transparent, because Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible man and I didn’t know him, and I liked him a lot,” he said. 

James’ Trump continued that the government released “all the files,” and even then, he came out “looking very good.”

He then pointed to a board with most of the writings redacted apart from a few words, which said, “Trump didn’t do nothing bad. Trump does sm*** but not like wrong kind. The end.”

That said, he concluded his address and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

Stay tuned for more updates.