Saturday Night Live impressed its audience with a celebrity-filled sketch that humorously mocked HBO’s The White Lotus by situating Donald Trump and the entire First Family in a posh and enigmatic resort.
In this parody of the popular HBO series, ‘The White Potus,’ the sketch incorporated appearances and internal references related to the Ratliff family from the recently concluded third season.
James Austin Johnson, the show’s resident Trump impersonator, was accompanied by well-known personalities such as host Jon Hamm portraying Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump, and Lizzo playing the role of spa manager Belinda.
SNL alums Beck Bennett and Alex Moffat also appeared to reprise their roles as Vladimir Putin and a low IQ take on Eric Trump, respectively.
Viewers were delighted by the sketch on social media.
‘Ok… the SNL bit The White Potus killed. Slayed. Annihilated,’ wrote one.
‘The White Potus might be the funniest thing SNL has done all season,’ added another.
One commenter singled out the host: ‘Jon Hamm totally nails RFK Jr. in The White POTUS sketch!’Â
Saturday Night Live delighted viewers with a star-studded sketch that skewered HBO ‘s The White Lotus by sending Donald Trump (pictured) as Timothy Ratliff and the entire First Family to a glamorous, mysterious resort
The sketch featured several cameos from celebrities, like Lizzo (pictured) as White Lotus spa manager Belinda
James Austin Johnson donned heavy prosthetics to play the president, while Melania was played by Chloe Fineman but instead of doing an impression of the First Lady, she mimicked Parker Posey’s character Victoria.Â
The piece opens as Melania tries to get through to Donald, he ignores her and instead takes something from a pill bottle in the shape of a McDonald’s chicken McNugget.Â
SNL brought back former cast member Alex Moffat to play Eric Trump, in tandem with Mikey Day as Don Jr, who the show has long portrayed as dimwitted. The pair substitute for The White Lotus’ Lochlan and Saxon, and even the infamous blender made an appearance.Â
Eric is seen making a smoothie out of a gold watch because Don Jr. tells him that making one is ‘about time.’Â
Don Jr. then wonders where Ivanka is, noting that ‘she’s been missing for dad’s entire presidency.’
SNL then brings in Scarlett Johansson – who is married to Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost – to reprise her role as Ivanka, who is meant as a stand-in for Sarah Catherine Hook’s Piper character.
There, she is questioned: ‘You must ask yourself: Am I willing to give up greed and material possessions?’
SNL brought in Scarlett Johansson (pictured) – who is married to Weekend Update co-anchor Colin Jost – to reprise her role as Ivanka, who is meant as a stand-in for Sarah Catherine Hook’s Piper character
SNL brought back former cast member Alex Moffat (pictured) to play Eric Trump
Without uttering a line, Johansson’s Ivanka is seen fleeing immediately after being asked.
The sketch then cuts back to Donald, Don Jr. and Melania at lunch – as the president watches headlines declaring a ‘worldwide recession’ – where Don Jr. finally questions Melania about her southern accent, where she merely says she’s from North Carolina.
SNL also briefly parodies Howard Lutnick, with Don Jr. saying of him: ‘He wants to see America get bent over by other countries.’
The Trumps then reveal ‘that man that arrived on the boat with us,’ cutting to this week’s host Jon Hamm as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Â
Hamm mixes RFK Jr. with Walton Goggins’Â Rick Hatchett character, declaring: ‘I have all these crazy ideas in my head, like… I have this syringe full of active measles virus and I just want to stab everybody with it! I just have these insane ideas like what if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water, what would peoples’ teeth look like?’
SNL cast member Sarah Sherman plays Aimee Lou Wood’s Chelsea, bemoaning as RFK Jr. sets out to kill a monkey and eat it.Â
The sketch takes a bizarre turn toward cast members Ashley Padilla, Heidi Gardner and Marcello Hernandez as Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem and Marco Rubio sitting at dinner, when Rubio is suddenly taken away by Vladimir Putin after wondering if people like him.
‘You look sad, come, dance with me,’ says Putin, played without a shirt on by former cast member Beck Bennett as he takes Rubio away by the hand.
Jon Hamm portrays Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a mix of both the Health and Human Services Secretary and Walton Goggins’ character Rick
Beck Bennett (pictured) returned to the show as his consistently shirtless version of Vladimir Putin
President Trump is then seen in his room in a t-shirt that reads ‘KING’ in the style of Jason Isaacs’ character’s Duke University t-shirt from the show.
Uncle Sam then appears to Trump, with the president turning a gun on him, saying: ‘I’m gonna’ do it, I’m gonna put a 500 percent tariff on China!’
Shirtless Vladimir Putin then appears and grabs Trump by the shoulder, asking him what’s wrong.
‘Oh, Vladimir, I think I’ve been having weird dreams,’ he says.
The sketch then ends on a completely random cutaway to Don Jr. in bed with Tiger Woods being impersonated by Kenan Thompson, who in real life is dating Don Jr.’s ex-wife Vanessa.
On the whole, the skit was one of what was a very Trump-heavy episode.Â
The show had opened with Johnson as Trump interrupting a play portraying Jesus turning over the tables at the temple.
‘Hi, it’s me, your favorite president, Donald Jesus Trump, comparing myself to the son of God once again. Many people are even calling me the Messiah for the mess I made out of the economy.’Â
The Trump parody also made fun of the recent economic downturn.
‘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.’Â
Musical guest Lizzo – who played the Belinda character in The White Potus sketch – also made reference to the tariffs, wearing a top during her performance that read: ‘Tarrified.’
The White Lotus became a sensation in Season 3, though critics savaged the season finale as disappointing. Â
