The January 24 episode Saturday Night Live acknowledged the real Elon Musk’s seeming return to President Donald Trump’s good graces in its “Trump Awards Cold Open.” Which naturally presented the opportunity for cast alum Mike Myers to play the tech billionaire and former government figure once again.
An announcer (Steve Higgins) explained at the top of the sketch, the Trump Awards are “honoring the best in being, or succumbing to, President Trump.”
“After that lady whose name I already forget gave me her Nobel Prize, I thought, ‘I need more awards!” And after what all my little freaks and psychos in ICE have been doing, I need more distractions,” Trump (James Austin Johnson) said. Look, everything’s gold and shiny!”
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Donald Trump awards “close ex-friend” Elon Musk and himself in SNL’s cold open
Johnson’s Trump went on to shout out all the “awful, terrible people in the house.”
“I’d like to get a round of applause going for the nominees, but my doctors say if I clap, both my dead purple hands will explode with blood. It’s probably nothing to worry about — doctors say I could live to be 120, or ‘current age,'” he said, referring to the headlines that returned this week about the large bruises on both of Trump’s hands (the White House says he knocked it on a table, and Trump blamed too much aspirin for the bruising).
JD Vance, now played by new cast member Jeremy Culhane following Bowen Yang‘s exit from the show, presented Best Picture (of Me), with a photo of “Trump Receiving Another Fake Award That He Made FIFA Invent to Give to Himself” taking the prize.
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“And if I could be serious for a moment, there is so much horrible stuff going on in our country and the world right now, but I promise you, I’m just getting started,” Trump said in his acceptance speech.”Thank you. Eric, go to bed!”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla) accepted an award for kissing up to Trump, but was soon interrupted by Trump, who played the Kanye to Noem’s Taylor Swift. “I’mma let you finish, but Trump had one of the best videos of all time,” he told Padilla’s Noem, adding, “you can go.”
“And now, here to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award for Comedy, even though he might not always intend it, my close ex-friend, Elon Musk,
“Oh, come on. Thank you, thank you! I’m so emotionless to be here,” Myers’ Musk said. “And if anyone knows humor, it’s me. No tariffs on humor, legalize comedy!”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t all laughs this year,” he went on. “There are a few things we had to saygoodbye to, because we destroyed them. So here to perform a mournful rendition of the America’s Funniest Home Videos theme, please welcome Carrie Underwood and the construction worker for The Village People.”
Among the eulogized: The demolished East Wing, checks and balances, and civil rights. Watch “Trump Awards Cold Open” from Season 51 above, and watch all of the sketches from Teyana Taylor’s SNL episode here.