In its latest episode, “Saturday Night Live” somewhat inevitably went after President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
James Austin Johnson returned as Trump during the NBC comedy show’s cold open, recreating the president’s Rose Garden speech from earlier this week, which saw him detail his controversial new import levies.
“Thank you all for coming out to hear about tariffs. My favorite word — ‘tariff’ — which, of course, is short for ‘tariffic’ idea,” Johnson’s Trump began.
“They’re the backbone of my incredible plan for our economy. It’s actually even better than a plan because it’s a series of random numbers, like the numbers on the computer screen in “Severance,” he continued.
Trump’s latest volley of tariffs put effective US tariff rates at the highest level in more than a century, Fitch Ratings estimated.
A baseline 10% tariff on trading partners came into effect on Saturday, while higher rates on certain nations are set to begin on April 9.
Many have pointed out that the last time the US tried to impose similarly high tariffs — during the Great Depression — it only succeeded in making things worse.
And Johnson’s Trump did not miss the opportunity to make that link, saying that before “Make America Wealthy Again” must come “MAGDA.”
“Make America Great Depression Again,” he explained. ” It’ll be better than great. It’ll be a fantastic, unbelievable depression, the likes of which you’ve never seen before.”
“You know, this depression is going to be so great, we’ll be the ones eating the cats and the dogs,” Johnson as Trump joked, referencing the real president’s comments about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, during last year’s presidential race.
Later in the sketch, Mike Myers returned as Elon Musk, crashing the announcement in a Green Bay Packers “cheesehead” hat and saying he’d just arrived from Wisconsin — where the real Musk spent millions of dollars in a failed bid to back a Republican judge for a seat in the state’s Supreme Court.
“I tried to buy the election in Wisconsin. I’m an idiot. I should have just bought Wisconsin,” Myers’ Musk joked, before turning his attention to the billionaire’s embattled electric vehicle maker, Tesla, which has been facing sharp drops in sales, protests outside showrooms, and widespread vandalism amid growing backlash against Musk and his role in Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.
“Our dealerships have been the target of many attacks, and, suddenly no one likes Tesla cars. So I asked myself, ‘Why?’ And then I answered myself: “Because of me,” he said.
He then announced a new Tesla “Model V” — “the first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalizing,” which he said comes with self-smashing headlights, self-slashing tires, and AI-powered graffiti.
Before the sketch ended, Myers’ Musk also weighed in on Trump’s tariffs.
“I’m really smart, and these tariffs sound really dumb,” he told Johnson’s Trump, who hastily replied: “OK, Elon, good luck on Mars.”
