'SNL' spoofs Trump and Mamdani bromance, skewers Natalie Harp - USA Today
The NBC sketch show returned on Sept. 26 with the premiere of Season 52, hosted by New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson and with musical guest Katseye. The cold open, set during the nor'easter that slammed the East Coast this weekend, tackled the surprisingly cordial relationship between President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who met this week in New York.
Ramy Youssef returned to play Mamdani opposite James Austin Johnson's Trump.
"For some reason that no one can figure out, I really, really like you," Trump told Mamdani in the sketch, calling himself the mayor's "best friend."
After Johnson's Trump suggested their chumminess could be because of their shared connection to Queens, the mayor observed that it's "funny to think I could have grown up in one of your apartment buildings in Queens," to which Trump shot back, "Not with that last name."
Mamdani was depicted in the sketch as increasingly eager to get Trump out of his hair, but to no avail, and Trump described their relationship as being like "one of those unlikely animal friendships, like when a tiger gets together with a baby goat."
The rest of the sketch acknowledged a number of events from Trump's "crazy week," including his move to ban reporters from three major news outlets from the White House. "SNL" also circled back to a headline from earlier this month when Trump turned heads with an apparent hair color change.
"I kicked out the press, and hung out with the president of China, Xi," Johnson's Trump said. "And yeah, I went brunet. It's fall!"
Ashley Padilla debuted an impression of Trump aide Natalie Harp, playing her as unstable and creepily infatuated with the president.
"She's like the girl from 'Obsession,' but blonde," Trump said of Harp, who warned Mamdani, "If you hurt him, I will end you."
"SNL" is beginning a new year with two additional comedians: Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter, joining as featured players. The Season 51 cast remained largely intact, with only two departures over the summer hiatus. In July, Chloe Fineman announced her exit after seven seasons. Martin Herlihy, a writer and member of the comedy trio Please Don't Destroy who appeared in prerecorded sketches, also departed after five seasons.
But all five newcomers who joined the cast of "SNL" in 2025 – Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska – are back for their sophomore season. Colin Jost and Michael Che also are returning as anchors of "Weekend Update."
The "SNL" season premiere is the first of three back-to-back episodes.
Next week, Oct. 3, "Verity" star Dakota Johnson hosts and Turnstile is the musical guest. The following week, Oct. 10, Shane Gillis hosts with musical guest Rosalía.
"SNL" will then be off for two weeks before coming back for a rare Halloween night episode on Saturday, Oct. 31. Appropriately, "Obsession" breakout star Inde Navarrette is hosting, with musical guest Gracie Abrams.
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