SNL‘s cold open was another opportunity to bring in some big guest stars to roast Donald Trump. This time, however, it was all wrapped up in an anti-bullying message.
The scene opens as three world leaders are played by some of late night television’s biggest stars (and the ageless Paul Rudd). Jimmy Fallon played Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Rudd played French president Emmanuel Macron and James Corden played England’s Boris Johnson. The setup made the NATO cafeteria more like a high school cafeteria, with Trudeau and Macron acting as the cool guys and Johnson serving as their dull and brutish sidekick.
The three sat down, with country-appropriate lunch food, in the cafeteria and played it cool until Trump showed up, who they clearly didn’t want sitting at their extra seat. Enter Alec Baldwin, as Trump, with a plate full of burgers and nowhere to go. Trump and Johnson are friends, but the latter’s cooler friends don’t want anything to do with him so Trump is stuck at a table with Latvia.
Things get worse when Trump overhears the cool kids are planning a party, one that he isn’t invited to. And then Angela Terkel of Germany (Kate McKinnon) gets the last spot at the table, a huge opportunity for her to finally be cool. There’s even a classic ‘put a sign on their back without them noticing’ bit.
The sketch ends in a freeze frame, with Trump’s wife, Melania, appearing in front of the stage to deliver an anti-bullying message from her Be Best campaign. It was also an ad for Peloton, I guess. It got a bit unclear at the end. But it was another chance for some impressive guests to tee off on Baldwin’s Trump, playing off the international image of Trump as, well, not a very popular guy in the NATO cafeteria.
