This was low even for SNL.
Saturday Night Live returned for its 52nd season and immediately plunged back into presidential politics, putting President Donald Trump at the center of an opening sketch that also took aim at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and White House aide Natalie Harp.
The long-running NBC comedy series opened its new season Saturday night with James Austin Johnson reprising his impersonation of Trump, while comedian Ramy Youssef returned to portray Mamdani.
What followed was a lengthy political parody built around the unusual relationship between the Republican president and New York City’s Democratic mayor.
The sketch also worked in jokes about Iran, Trump’s relationship with the press and Harp’s loyalty to the president — making it clear that Trump will remain a major source of material for SNL in its newest season.
SNL Puts Trump and Mamdani Front and Center
The cold open began with Youssef’s Mamdani addressing New Yorkers as a powerful nor’easter affected the region.
Before long, Johnson’s Trump unexpectedly appeared.
Rather than portraying the two political figures as bitter opponents, SNL leaned heavily into their surprisingly cordial relationship.
The fictional Trump told Mamdani that, for reasons nobody seemed able to explain, he genuinely liked the mayor.
The show then exaggerated that relationship for comedic effect, portraying Trump as reluctant to leave Mamdani’s side.
At one point, Johnson’s Trump compared their friendship to an unlikely pairing between two animals that ordinarily would not be expected to get along.
The premise drew from recent real-world interactions between Trump and Mamdani. Despite major political and ideological differences, Trump has publicly spoken positively about Mamdani following meetings between the two men.
NBC’s account of the premiere describes the cold open as centering on Trump’s visit with Mamdani before expanding into other political subjects.
Trump’s Iran Rhetoric Becomes Part of the Joke
The conversation soon moved from New York politics to foreign affairs.
SNL used recent developments involving Iran as another source of material.
Johnson’s Trump claimed he had taken Mamdani’s advice when preparing remarks about Iran.
Youssef’s Mamdani initially assumed that meant Trump had called for peace and a ceasefire.
The fictional president instead suggested that he had interpreted the advice as something considerably more confrontational.
The exchange allowed SNL to parody Trump’s recent public rhetoric toward Iran while contrasting it with Mamdani’s position.
As with much of the sketch, the writers blended actual political headlines with intentionally exaggerated dialogue.
SNL Also Takes Aim at Trump’s Week
Iran was not the only subject to receive attention.
The season premiere referenced several other stories surrounding the president, including his relationship with major news organizations and his interactions with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The fictional Trump also joked about technology executives and artificial intelligence as SNL attempted to pack several recent news cycles into the cold open.
That rapid-fire approach has long been a feature of the program’s political sketches, allowing writers to move from one headline to another while keeping the president at the center of the scene.
The premiere also joked about Trump’s appearance, including his hair, as Johnson continued the exaggerated mannerisms that have defined his portrayal of the president.
Separate coverage of the episode noted that the cold open touched on Trump’s media battles, China and other stories from the preceding week.
Then the sketch shifted its attention to someone much closer to Trump.
Natalie Harp Makes an Unusual SNL Entrance
Cast member Ashley Padilla entered the scene portraying White House aide Natalie Harp.
Her appearance produced some of the sketch’s sharpest satire.
SNL portrayed Harp as extraordinarily protective of Trump, taking her devotion to deliberately absurd levels for comedic effect.
Padilla’s Harp arrived while singing a reference to Beyoncé’s “Baby Boy,” immediately establishing the exaggerated direction the writers had chosen for the character.
Johnson’s Trump appeared pleased by the attention.
The sketch then had the fictional president compare Harp to a character from the thriller Obsession.
Padilla’s Harp repeatedly insisted that she was perfectly normal before directing a threatening warning toward Mamdani if he were ever to hurt Trump.
The sequence was clearly presented as parody rather than a literal portrayal of Harp.
NBC and other entertainment coverage confirmed that Padilla appeared as Harp during the Trump-Mamdani cold open.
Trump Remains One of SNL’s Biggest Political Targets
Trump has been a recurring subject on Saturday Night Live for years.
Several performers have portrayed him over the program’s long history, but Johnson has become the show’s principal Trump impersonator in recent seasons.
His version relies heavily on Trump’s speaking patterns, tangents, facial expressions and public persona.
That formula was back in full force for the Season 52 premiere.
The show’s writers used Trump’s relationship with Mamdani as the foundation of the sketch but quickly expanded it to cover foreign policy, the news media and personalities within the president’s administration.
Trump wasn’t the only political figure targeted during the premiere, either.
SNL’s “Weekend Update” later returned to presidential politics while also joking about other figures in Washington.
An Unlikely Political Relationship Becomes Comedy Material
Perhaps the most interesting element of the cold open was its decision to make Trump and Mamdani’s relationship the central joke.
Politically, the two men come from very different worlds.
Trump remains the dominant figure in the Republican Party, while Mamdani emerged from the Democratic Party’s progressive wing.
Those differences might ordinarily make the pair obvious political opponents.
Instead, SNL played up the contrast by portraying them almost like inseparable friends.
The fictional Trump repeatedly tried to remain with Mamdani rather than return to Washington, while Mamdani searched for increasingly creative ways to send him home.
Eventually, the sketch brought New York housing policy into the joke as well.
The segment concluded with the characters reaching an exaggerated agreement involving billions of dollars for housing and an Instagram follow, before delivering the familiar words that have opened the program for decades: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night.”
Political Satire Returns Ahead of the Midterms
The premiere comes at a particularly active moment in American politics.
The 2026 midterm elections are approaching, putting control of Congress and the direction of Trump’s second-term agenda at the center of political attention.
That gives Saturday Night Live no shortage of potential material.
Presidential speeches, foreign policy decisions, congressional battles, media controversies and the administration’s high-profile personalities could all find their way into future episodes.
The September 26 premiere offered an early indication that the show’s writers intend to continue drawing heavily from Washington.
For viewers wondering whether SNL might reduce its focus on Trump after its seasonal break, the opening minutes of Season 52 provided a clear indication of the show’s plans.
Donald Trump remains firmly in the center of Saturday Night Live’s political comedy.