Since the start of the new year, there’s been way too much news for even “Saturday Night Live” to process, so there was only one way to address it all: a recap by President Trump and the members of his cabinet.
The first new “S.N.L.” broadcast of 2026, hosted by Finn Wolfhard and featuring the musical guest ASAP Rocky, led off in familiar fashion with James Austin Johnson playing President Trump as he addressed America from the White House.
Expressing the hope that everyone got what they wanted for Christmas, Johnson said, “I got what I wanted. My very own someone else’s Nobel Prize, which I’ll cherish.” (He briefly held up a replica of the medal the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado had presented to him, then tossed it aside.) He added that he had deposed the former president, Nicolás Maduro, by running “a reverse Santa on him: We came down the chimney with a bag and took him away.”
Johnson went on to introduce several members of his cabinet, the people he said are helping him to do “so many legal-ish things to try to get people to stop talking about Epstein.”
He began with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, played by Marcello Hernández, asking him to address the people of Cuba. But when Hernández began speaking in Spanish, Johnson cut him off: “Not in here, big guy,” he said. “I didn’t like that at all. You’re driving in the wrong direction, honey.”
Next up was new cast member Jeremy Culhane, playing Vice President Vance. (He inherits the role from Bowen Yang, who left “S.N.L.” in December.)
Johnson told Culhane that while he talked about “trends in men’s wear or whatever the hell your job is,” Johnson was “just going to sort of walk around in the background and look out windows.” (Sure enough, while Culhane talked about tariffs and Greenland, Johnson wandered back into the scene and gazed longingly outside. “I see a cardinal and a blue jay in the same tree,” Johnson mused. “Wow. You don’t see that a lot.”)
Ashley Padilla appeared as the Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem, who told viewers how they could join I.C.E.
“Is your neck wider than your head?” she asked. “Are you currently wearing a Punisher T-shirt? Have you ever punched a hole in the wall because your son took a dance class? If the answer is yes, then grab a gun — any gun — and saddle up, big boy.”
Finally, Colin Jost reprised his blustering portrayal of the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who boasted about Venezuela and offered a warning message to Iran: “You don’t dare kill your protesters,” he said. “That’s our thing.”
Jost gave a suggestive demonstration with a kettle bell, after which Johnson said, “Even I know you’re doing that wrong. Also, midterms are canceled.”
Obligatory ‘Stranger Things’ parody of the week
If you have an episode hosted by Wolfhard, you’re going to have to somehow pay homage to “Stranger Things,” the hit Netflix series whose finale was released last month. “S.N.L.” imagined a world where Netflix was so encouraged by the show’s success that it introduced all sorts of inadvisable “Stranger Things” spinoffs, including “Strangerous Minds,” a “Dangerous Minds” parody (with Andrew Dismukes playing Joe Keery’s character, Steve Harrington); and a “Sex and the City”-style aftermath for Mike (Wolfhard) and his buddies Lucas and Dustin (played by the real-life “Stranger Things” stars Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo).
The sketch also imagined a secret post-finale episode of “Stranger Things,” as some viewers have incorrectly predicted in an oddly persistent conspiracy theory. (Given “S.N.L.”’s results, which found Kenan Thompson playing the role of Eleven, it’s probably for the best that this theory never came true.)
Unconventional ‘Harry Potter’ parody of the week
Of course, the other big news in premium television has been the breakout success of “Heated Rivalry,” the HBO Max series (originally made for the Canadian streaming service Crave) about two closeted male professional hockey players who pursue a secret romance.
All you have to know going in is that HBO is preparing a new TV reboot of its “Harry Potter” franchise and — before you can say “expecto parodium,” you’ve got the satirical trailer “Heated Wizardry,” in which Harry (Wolfhard) and Ron Weasley (Ben Marshall) are exchanging more than innuendos in their own in their own personal chamber of secrets. Prepare yourself for lots of Potter-related double entendres and be glad your last name isn’t Longbottom. (Unless it is, in which case, apologies in advance.)
Weekend Update jokes of the week
Over at the Weekend Update desk, the co-anchors Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on the Trump administration’s tumultuous start to 2026.
Jost began:
Well guys, it’s been one year since we got back together with Trump after taking a break. And there are signs that there still may be problems with the relationship. I don’t know if you remember, but Trump promised us America First. Yet it’s only our one-year anniversary and he’s already opening our relationship up to other countries. [An image on his screen showed Greenland, Venezuela and Iran.] This week, Trump declared himself the acting president of Venezuela. By next week he will be the interim Ayatollah of Iran. And then on to his ultimate goal, head reindeer of Greenland. In fact, a congressman has introduced a bill to make Greenland the 51st state. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico’s like, “Wow, OK.”
Che continued:
Officials in Minnesota have sued the Trump administration, claiming that the large-scale ICE actions are an unconstitutional federal invasion. While the Trump administration claims that, yup.
Celebrity cavalcade of the week
Whether they were there to support their colleagues or just snowbound in New York, the stars were out in full force on this week’s broadcast: In addition to the surprise appearances from McLaughlin and Matarazzo, the pop singer and frequent “S.N.L.” guest Sabrina Carpenter showed up incognito in a return visit to the “Snack Homiez” podcast; the “Game of Thrones” alum Jason Momoa played Hagrid in the “Heated Wizardry” sketch; and Danny Elfman and Thundercat performed with ASAP Rocky on his song “Punk Rocky.” (They’re also in the video for the song along with — you guessed it — “Stranger Things” star Winona Ryder. And that’s the last thing we have to say about “Stranger Things” until the secret episode is released.)
Dave Itzkoff is a former Times culture reporter.
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