“Saturday Night Live” wondered aloud, as some economists have, whether President Donald Trump’s unprecedented world tariffs will plunge the nation into economic despair.
The sketch comedy showcase opened with a rendition of Trump’s Rose Garden speech on Wednesday announcing tariffs ranging from 10% to 54% on all imported goods. The tariffs will be paid to the government by U.S. importers, which economists have warned will lead to higher prices for consumers.
The president has argued the move will bring back manufacturing jobs that are currently largely performed by countries with cheaper labor.
SNL’s Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, admitted the formula used to calculate the tariff rate on other countries is complicated, but he promised it would add up to better days.
“I know what the numbers mean, OK,” he said. “They mean we’re going to Make America Wealthy Again — MAWA!”
But, conceding that the country will first have to undergo a period of hardship, Trump revealed a new slogan: Make America Great Depression Again.
“It will be a fantastic, unbelievable depression,” he said. “We’ll be the ones eating the cats and the dogs. That’s going to fun.”
He explained how higher costs and prices will lead to a better economy: “It’s simple economics, OK: If the stock market goes down and down and down and down and down, that means there’s nowhere to go but up — or perhaps further down.”
Faith appeared to be a key element of this economic plan. Johnson’s Trump said that, at some point, “Your money’s gone and that’s OK. We’re going to figure it out.”
Trump advisor Elon Musk, played by Mike Myers, crashed the speech to seek sympathy for his predicament as CEO of automaker Tesla: The brand has experienced some market woes, protests and retail vandalism, apparently by those angry with Musk’s role cutting thousands of federal jobs at the behest of Trump.
“Suddenly, no one likes Tesla cars,” Myers’ Musk said. “I asked myself why. And I answered myself: because of me.”
He used the occasion to announce the launch of the Tesla Model V — “The first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalizing.” It includes “AI-powered graffiti,” Musk said.
Even in a world with such a marvel, the tech titan mused that those tariffs don’t add up to good times.
“I’m really smart,” he asserted, “and these tariffs sound really dumb.”
Jack Black hosted the show, and Elton John and Brandi Carlile performed as the musical guests.
“SNL” airs on NBC, a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.
