James Austin Johnson has officially crossed the Atlantic with his Donald Trump impression. The American SNL cast member made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live UK, crashing the cold open as Trump and delivering the first-ever Trump appearance on the British edition of the sketch show.
James Austin Johnson (Credits: Sky/NBC)
Saturday night’s cold open began with U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham (George Fouracres) meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Freddie Meredith) at Downing Street to reaffirm Britain’s support in the war with Russia. The sketch riffed on the real-life meeting between Zelenskyy and Burnham earlier in the week, with Zelenskyy urging that America restore Starlink internet access and — in a lighter moment — asking for no spoilers on “Celebrity Traitors” because he was convinced Richard E. Grant would go all the way.
The moment Burnham promised Zelenskyy he would raise his concerns with Trump “at the first opportunity,” Johnson’s Trump summoned himself onto the stage: “You say my name and I appear,” he announced, crediting the trick to “my very close friend Beetlejuice, the great Beetlejuice.”
A Job Swap Offer and Riffs on Britain
Johnson’s Trump then proposed a transatlantic “Job Swap” — he would take over the UK while Burnham inherited the United States. It was not exactly a tempting offer: “It’s an awful job. It’s a terrible place full of disgusting people. I don’t know why I do it,” he told Burnham, adding that the place was “a real mess.”
From there, Johnson rattled through riffs on British headlines — small boats, Manchester City, Percy Pigs, and even a tiger mauling incident — while also taking a swipe at comedian Russell Brand‘s ongoing trial, joking he was in town to see his favorite comedian performing live “at the High Court in the role of defendant.”
The sketch even went meta, with Johnson’s Trump turning to the British cast and asking the question in the headline: “SNL UK, you’re telling me you don’t have a guy, the whole cast, you don’t have one guy who can play Trump? What an awful situation.“
One Advantage of British TV
Johnson also discovered one clear perk of doing the impression on British television. After letting a swear word fly during the sketch, he stopped to savor the moment: “Ooh, you can say ‘shit’ on this one,” he said. “That felt really good. Very weird. I feel really weird.”
The appearance — in the James Norton-hosted episode with musical guest The Streets — marks five years since Johnson took over the Trump role from Alec Baldwin on NBC’s flagship show, and his first time exporting the impression to the British edition. Reports note Johnson also made a brief second appearance as Trump in a golf outfit during the dress rehearsal for a Michael Jackson fashion-show sketch, though the cameo was cut from the aired version.
Source: Variety — read the full story there.
