Buckle up, the president is making some phone calls.
This week’s “Saturday Night Live” cold open took direct aim at President Trump’s diplomatic snafus, including a recent phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that turned vitriolic over the issue of refugees.
In the skit, Trump, portrayed by Alec Baldwin, is convinced by senior adviser Steve Bannon, who is portrayed by an actor dressed as the grim reaper, to make a round of calls to various international leaders from the Oval Office.
First up: Turnbull, played by Beck Bennett.
“No refugees, America first, Australia sucks, your reef is failing, prepare to go war,” said faux-Trump, ending the call.
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Next up: Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, played by Alex Moffat. Baldwin tries to convince Moffat to pay for his proposed border wall by repeatedly saying, “Guy who’s going to pay for the wall says ‘What.’ ”
Trump then rang German Chancellor Angela Merkel, portrayed by Kate McKinnon. During their exchange there was a reference about Trump’s recent head-scratching comments about Frederick Douglass (Baldwin said he plans to have lunch with him soon), a punchline about the recent spate of large anti-Trump protests (“They are so upset about how bad ‘The Apprentice’ has gotten”), and a joke about Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
“One day I’m going to write a memoir about this struggle and call it ‘My Struggle,’ ” deadpanned Baldwin. “What would that be in German, Angela?”
Lastly, Steve Bannon-as-the-grim-reaper convinced Baldwin to phone a random country, to show “them who’s boss.” Faux-Donald called Zimbabwe, and Kenan Thompson, who is presumably playing dictator Robert Mugabe, quickly dismissed Trump’s strongman cred.
“I will rip out your spine and drink from your skull,” said Thompson.
After that call, the grim reaper asked the president of the United States, “OK Donald, that’s enough fun for tonight, can I have my desk back?”
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