The Saturday Night Live writers love spoofing The White Lotus, HBO’s hit anthology that sees rich people behaving badly in luxury resorts around the world. We’ve previously seen “The Black Lotus” back in Season 48’s Aubrey Plaza-hosted ep. And just this month, the sketch-comedy series poked fun at Parker Posey, who stars in the HBO series as Southern matriarch Victoria Ratliff, with SNL cast member Chloe Fineman parodying that character’s insane Carolina accent. But SNL fans got another parody with “The White POTUS,” centered on the most currently relevant rich people behaving badly: the Trump administration.
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Perfectly echoing The White Lotus, which just wrapped up its third season last Sunday, the pre-taped sketch begins with jaunty dance-music opening credits before we catch up with Donald (James Austin Johnson) and Melania Trump (Chloe Fineman) during their tropical family getaway.
Melania may have that signature Victoria Ratliff twang but Don has her substance dependency, though instead of numbing his feelings about the country’s financial chaos with Lorazepam, the president is swallowing mini-hash browns whole. (“We are so lucky that America will always be a rich and powerful nation,” Fineman’s Melania pointedly drawls in one scene. “I mean, can you imagine how awful it would be if America lost all its money and no one in the world respected us anymore?”)
Elsewhere, we see Mikey Day as Donald Trump Jr. and former SNL cast member Alex Moffat return as younger bro Eric, echoing Saxon and Lochlan’s too-intimate tension from the show over the smoothie blender. (Fellow Saturday Night Live alum Beck Bennett also cameos as the perpetually bare-chested Russian president Vladimir Putin.) And in another big-name guest spot, Scarlett Johansson makes a surprise appearance as sister Ivanka Trump.
This week’s host Jon Hamm also pops up as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—opposite a particularly toothy Sarah Sherman as Aimee Lou Wood’s Lotus character Chelsea—while musical guest Lizzo checks in as Natasha Rothwell’s spa manager Belinda. (“These old white Trump dudes are trying to ruin my life,” Belinda cries, a callback to Jennifer Coolidge’s instantly iconic “These gays are trying to kill me.”)
Related:Nine Actors Have Played Donald Trump on ‘SNL.’ Who Was Very Great and Who Got Fired?
Check out the full “The White Potus” spoof below:
