In a cheeky start to its Easter episode, Saturday Night Live turned its lens on US President Donald Trump’s handling of the US economy, using biblical imagery to mock Trump’s erratic tariff decisions.
The sketch began with a reimagining of the “Cleansing of the Temple,” where Jesus, played by Mikey Day, angrily cleared out merchants. “I will rid this place of all its money,” he declared.
The scene took a turn when James Austin Johnson appeared as Trump, proclaiming, “It’s me, your favourite president, Donald Jesus Trump,” and comparing himself to Jesus. “Many people are calling me the Messiah,” he added, “because of the mess I, uh, made out of the economy.”
According to The New York Times, the skit blended sharp political humour with biblical parody, portraying Trump as the unlikely saviour of a financial system he had a hand in wrecking.
The sketch poked fun at Trump’s tariff policies, particularly their role in rattling the stock market. Johnson’s Trump character quipped that his “beautiful tariffs” were going so well he had to stop them. “I said let me cook, and then I burned dinner badly so we had to stop,” he joked. “Now, everything is back exactly how it was, minus a few trillion dollars and a historic transfer of wealth from the middle class to my buddies.”
Trump’s erratic trade tactics recently caused major market swings. The three key stock indexes surged after he paused tariffs, only to plunge again following a renewed push against China. Johnson’s Trump made light of this chaos and said, “The stock market did a Jesus. It died, then on the third day it was risen, and then on the fourth day it died again, possibly never to return, just like Jesus.”
He continued with more Easter-themed quips, pointing to Americans’ financial stress. “We look at our 401K and say, ‘Jesus Christ, where did it all go?’ I don’t know, but we’re gonna fix that. Or not. We’ll see,” he said.
According to The Hill, Johnson didn’t shy away from criticising Trump’s allies who may have benefitted from market turbulence, portraying the whole episode as “a historic transfer of wealth from the middle class to my buddies.”
He also mocked Trump’s religious pretence, saying, “We must never mix religion with commerce,” before promoting a fictional “Trump Bible” made in America, priced at $1,300 and falling apart “even faster.”
Hosted by Jon Hamm and with musical guest Lizzo, the episode aimed its satire at both political turmoil and the rising cost of living, joking that people were “hunting for eggs in the grocery store because they cost a trillion, billion dollars.”
SNL airs on NBC, part of NBCUniversal, which also owns NBC News.
