SNL mocks Trump over Epstein file redactions, cognitive tests and renaming Kennedy Center in scathing Christmas episode cold open

James Austin Johnson continued his streak as the president and ridiculed the Trump administration over its claim to be the ‘most transparent in history’

Saturday Night Live's cold open mocked President Donald Trump over the heavily redacted Epstein files and his renaming of the Kennedy Center in a scathing Christmas episode.

James Austin Johnson continued his streak as the president and ridiculed the Trump administration over its claim to be the “most transparent in history” after hundreds of pages of the long-awaited documents were redacted when they were partially released Friday by the Justice Department.

Trump only appeared in the tens of thousands of documents a handful of times, and one of the photographs that appeared to show the president was removed by the DOJ Saturday, Democrats said. Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing.

“With regard to files, we're being very transparent,” Johnson’s Trump began. “Because Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible man, and I didn't know him, and I liked him a lot.”

“We released all the files, and I come out looking, frankly, very good,” he parodied. “We had to redact a few sensitive things, but you'll get the gist here…”

Saturday Night Live 's cold open mocked President Donald Trump over the heavily redacted Epstein files (SNL/NBC)

Johnson then turned to a giant file beside him that was redacted, apart from the words: “Trump Didn’t Do Nothing Bad.”

“See, it's all there. Can you believe it?” he said.

The comic version of Trump joked that he was renaming so many government buildings after himself “because we had to take it off of so many files.”

“We had to put them somewhere,” Johnson said.

The December 20 cold open also ridiculed Trump’s hand-picked board that voted to rename the iconic Kennedy Center: The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.

“We are renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which will now be called the Trump-Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts No Homo,” Johnson said.

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“I'm actually going to be renaming a number of our other monuments as well…Trump-Washington Monument...Trump Lincoln Memorial,” Johnson reeled off, holding up mocked-up images of the historic sites with the president’s name plastered across them.

The near-five minute skit mimicked the style of Trump’s meandering speeches, where he has often bragged about his cognitive test scores.

The cold open also skewered Trump’s hand-picked board voting to rename the Kennedy Center The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

“I'm doing my own version of Nativity now, where kings from the Middle East bring gifts for me, like gold and airplane and casino deal in Dubai,” the actor said. “But unlike nativity, they're not showing up on camel. And I know camel, I know it very well. I know it from my mandatory daily cognitive test.”

“I always get camel right. It's bumpy horse,” he went on. “That's how I know camel bumpy horse.”

Saturday’s show, hosted by Ariana Grande, marked Bowen Yang’s last as he earlier announced his mid-season exit after seven years.

The actor and comedian, 35, shared a carousel of images on Instagram that showed him at 30 Rock alongside his fellow cast members.

“I loved working at SNL, and most of all i loved the people. i was there at a time when many things in the world started to seem futile, but working at 30 rock taught me the value in showing up anyway when people make it worthwhile,” his lengthy caption began.

“I’m grateful for every minute of my time there,” he added.