Saturday Night Live opened tonight with Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) trying his best to deflect from Jeffrey Epstein, as the focus has turned on a vote next week to compel the release of Justice Department files on the convicted sexual predator.
The skit had Johnson’s Trump appearing in the White House briefing room, as reporters pressed him on why he’s trying his best to block the release of the Epstein investigative files.
One reporter asked, “Even Trump’s biggest supporters think that he should release the Epstein files. What does Trump have to hide?”
Trump responded, “I am hiding almost nothing, just enough to make it extremely suspicious. But let me ask you a question. If there was something incriminating about me in the files, then why would I cover them up?”
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A confused reporter (Kenan Thompson) chimed in, “Isn’t that exactly why you would cover them up?”
Trump responded, “OK, let me go again. If I was innocent, wouldn’t I just release all the files?”
Puzzled, the reporter responded, “Yes. again, I think you’re agreeing with what everyone is saying.”
Trump then tried again. “Third time’s a charm. Jeffrey Epstein. I barely knew the guy, as evidenced by the thousands of pictures of us together, dancing and grinding our teeth at various parties, always leering and pointing at something just off camera — probably a book we’re excited to read.”
A reporter also asked Trump, “You said you kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago but he said he was ‘never a member.’”
Trump replied, “Yeah, I said I kicked Jeffrey out because he was a pedophile, but then I also said I didn’t know he did anything wrong. So it’s kind of hard to square that circle until you realize that Trump exists across many timelines. It’s the Trump multiverse theory. We just happen to be living in the worst possible one.”
The sketch was little surprise this week, as the White House has grappled with the release of some 20,000 emails from Epstein mentioning Trump more than 1,000 times, per the Miami Herald. Meanwhile, the House is set to vote next week on a resolution to release the remaining DOJ files on Epstein, even though Trump has opposed such a move.
Earlier this week, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) met with White House officials in the Situation Room, reportedly as they tried to get her to take her name off a petition to get a vote on the Epstein files release to the House floor. Boebert did not do so.
The SNL skit opened with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla) leading the briefing, trying to convince the reporters that the Epstein email release proved “that President Trump did nothing wrong.” In fact, Leavitt did try to make that claim at Wednesday’s briefing.
The president, though, did not appear in the briefing room, and over the next couple of days avoided answering press questions. But he’s raged about the Epstein files on Truth Social, ordering up an investigation of Bill Clinton and other Democrats named in Epstein’s emails.
In tonight’s sketch, Johnson’s Trump eventually said that he would release the files, but each one would be “on sale for the low, low price of $800.”
Watch it above.