‘Saturday Night Live’ Cold Open Skewers Donald Trump Over Iran Strikes With ‘World War III’ Jab
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NBC’s Saturday Night Live came back from its hiatus following the 2026 Winter Olympics with a cold open that immediately zeroed in on breaking news, lampooning Donald Trump after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
A mock PSA set the tone: “Last evening at the very normal time of 2 in the morning, President Trump informed the nation that we were at war with Iran. And now, with some further thoughts, President Trump.”
Portrayed by James Austin Johnson, Trump appeared in a white “USA” cap and opened, “Good evening, and happy World War III to all who celebrate. It’s me, Donald Trump, FIFA Peace Prize winner and Nobel Peace Prize taker.”
He continued, “I launched this attack after me and my Board of Peace decided that we were bored of peace… As we all know, Iran has been two weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon for, like, the last 15 years or something. So we had to act now. And we’re doing war.”
The bit escalated into a musical gag as Trump sang a parody of “War” by Edwin Starr: “War, what is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein files.” He also joked about campaign promises, adding, “We do one foreign war and possibly one civil.”
After veering into a Forrest Gump riff and a swipe at the Star Wars fandom, the sketch circled back to the timing of the strikes. “One, it’s after the stock market closes for the weekend. And two, it’s to cause immeasurable fear, rage, and chaos in the SNL writers’ room. Those guys were going crazy. They probably had a big State of the Union address thing they were gonna do. Not anymore!”
Later, Colin Jost appeared as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, delivering a hardline update that included the claim, “We took out a horrendous, horrible leader who was oppressing his own people,” referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Trump then re-entered to add, “But don’t get any ideas!”
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
