SNL UK Trump Cold Open: Job Swap With Burnham, Zelenskyy
The SNL UK Trump cold open delivered the show’s biggest transatlantic moment yet on Saturday, as James Austin Johnson carried his Donald Trump impression across the Atlantic for the British edition of the sketch series on Sky.
Johnson, the longtime Trump impressionist on the American Saturday Night Live, turned up in the cold open just as the sketch was settling into a diplomatic meeting: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Freddie Meredith) sitting down with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham (George Fouracres) at Downing Street to reaffirm Britain’s support for Ukraine. Trump barged in and immediately took over the scene.
A Job Swap Pitch at Downing Street
Trump’s grand proposal: a “Job Swap” in which he would take charge of the United Kingdom while Burnham inherited the United States. He warned the fictional prime minister about what was waiting across the ocean, calling the country a real mess and predicting Burnham would hate it.
From there, Johnson-as-Trump rattled through British reference points — small boats, Manchester City, even the supermarket sweets Percy Pigs — before turning his attention to the show he was guesting on. Poking at the UK cast’s lack of a Trump impersonator of its own, he asked how an entire cast could have no one to play Trump, calling it an awful situation.
The sketch also let him savor one of the perks of British television: after swearing during the bit, Johnson’s Trump paused to appreciate that he could say it on this show, calling the moment very weird.
A Real Meeting Becomes a Sketch
The sketch riffed on a real-life meeting days earlier: Zelenskyy traveled to London on Wednesday for talks with Burnham about the war in Ukraine and efforts to repair diplomatic ties between Kyiv and Washington. Burnham’s office said Britain would provide urgent support for Kyiv and accelerate delivery of air defense missiles ahead of winter.
The real-world backdrop has been tense. Trump struck a diesel-import deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, a move that rattled Kyiv and its European allies — and gave the sketch’s premise, a British PM trying to reassure Ukraine while Trump crashes the room, an unmistakable topical charge.
First US-UK Cast Crossover
Johnson’s appearance marks the franchise’s first-ever U.S.-U.K. current-cast crossover. Two SNL veterans came before him: Tina Fey hosted the SNL UK series premiere, and Jimmy Fallon dropped by its Weekend Update during the show’s first season.
Source: Deadline