Saturday Night Live (SNL) Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che targeted President Donald Trump‘s administration in a blistering satirical segment, delivering sharp-witted jabs at the Signal scandal involving leaked military plans and other political missteps.
The Context
The swipes come amid a tumultuous week for the administration, as news broke that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had mistakenly shared sensitive military attack plans in a Signal group chat with other top Trump administration officials and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg.
Criticism followed the revelation of communications from a Signal group chat, which included Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and other senior administration officials. The chat discussed upcoming military strikes in Yemen, including specific attack strategies. Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was unintentionally added to the chat and observed the entire conversation unfold. He later reported on the incident in the magazine.
The journalist’s report detailed how the text exchange included U.S. military plans for airstrikes targeting the Houthis, Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, who have been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea amid a dispute over control of vital shipping routes.
Newsweek contacted the Department of Defense for further comment via email outside of normal office hours.
What To Know
The Weekend Update segment did not hold back, with Jost and Che ruthlessly mocking the scandal. “We learned our entire national security team has the texting skills of my aunt Janet,” Jost quipped.
He went on to mock Hegseth’s mistake, which saw detailed attack plans for an airstrike in Yemen sent to a text chain that accidentally included the editor of The Atlantic.
Jost compared the blunder to a disastrous mix-up, saying, “Of all people to accidentally add to the chat, it was the editor of The Atlantic. That’s like if you were planning a surprise quinceañera and you CC’d Jared from Subway.”
Jost went on to mock Waltz for sending a string of emojis, including a fist, flag, and fire emoji. Jost described the latter digital icon as a Tesla emoji after multiple vehicles were set on fire at a Tesla service center.
“Waltz later explained, this was his real explanation, that the journalist’s number must have gotten, quote, sucked onto his phone. Worse, he then tried to get rid of the number by saying, Siri, how do I suck the journalist off?” Jost said in a dig at Waltz.
Jost compared Hegseth’s denial over texting classified war plans to a scene in Forrest Gump, drawing rapturous laughter from the audience.
“Oh, man, he went full Gump,” Jost said.
The Weekend Update hosts also aimed at several other members of the administration.
The FBI‘s response to anti-Elon Musk vandalism at Tesla dealerships also came under fire. Che mocked FBI Director Kash Patel‘s announcement, in which he called the acts “domestic terrorism,” and joked that the protests might result in a “full pardon” from the administration. It appeared to be a reference to Trump pardoning the January 6 rioters, who were jailed under the Joe Biden administration.
Vance was not spared, either. His visit to a military base in Greenland to deliver a speech was ridiculed amid unwanted overtures from the U.S. to annex Greenland. “Either Greenland joins the U.S., or the U.S. will keep sending them JD Vance,” joked Jost.
The hosts also took a swipe at the oil industry, highlighting a survey of oil executives who believe Trump’s “Drill Baby Drill” message is a myth and his tariffs are a disaster. Che joked that only one oil tycoon supports Trump.
“There’s one billionaire oil man who still supports Donald Trump, Diddy,” Che said following reports that Sean “Diddy” Combs owned hundreds of bottles of baby oil.
In a bizarre turn of events, the Secret Service intercepted a toddler after he managed to slip through the fence at the White House, prompting a joke from the hosts about El Salvador, where hundreds of migrants have been shipped off by the administration.
“The Secret Service intercepted a toddler after he slipped through the fence outside the White House. Anyway, he’s here [El Salvador] now.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, officials removed a portrait of Trump from the state capitol after the former president complained that it didn’t look good and was “purposefully distorted.” The hosts playfully noted that Trump had posed for the portrait with a hamburger in his mouth.
Jost also delivered a scathing take on the recent Paddington Bear statue theft in England. A judge sentencing two men for stealing the statue said their actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for. This led Jost to launch into his satirical segment, “Hear Me Out.”
“Paddington’s a toxic b****. He’s an illegal immigrant freeloading off a nice, gullible white family. His sticky little marmalade paws are just waiting to rip open that trench coat so he can flash our straight children. I can’t wait to call ICE on his Peruvian ass,” Jost said.
What People Are Saying
Maggie McNett Harper, a retired journalist, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “I’ve been watching SNL since the VERY beginning…and I gotta say tonite’s episode of WEEKEND UPDATE was probably one of the BEST EVER! In fact, the entire show was absolutely superb…Mikey Madison was superb!”
What Happens Next
The next episode of Saturday Night Live airs on Saturday, April 5, 2025. It will feature Jack Black as host and musical guests Elton John and Brandi Carlile.
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