President Trump Says ‘No Deal’ to Shutdown Negotiations on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cold Open

Saturday Night Live mocked the federal government shutdown on Saturday night with a Deal or No Deal-style imitation of the stalled negotiations between Democrats and President Trump over funding Trump’s border wall.

The show’s cold open had President Trump, played by Alec Baldwin, appear as a contestant on a bizarre version of NBC’s popular game show Deal or No Deal. Instead of models holding briefcases, the SNL version had members of Congress offer the President possible deals to end the shutdown, now entering its fifth week, which he summarily rejected.

The sketch featured memorable interactions between Baldwin’s Trump and a intimidating, provocative Nancy Pelosi, played by Kate McKinnon, who describes herself as, “not like drunk on my own power or anything.”

One exchange highlighted the back and forth between Trump and Pelosi this week, where the speaker suggested a postponement of the State of the Union, and the President responded by demanding she fly commercial for an overseas trip.

“If the government is shut down, you can’t do the State of the Union,” McKinnon as Pelosi said. “It’s for security reasons, not because I’m vindictive or anything.”

“I can’t do the State of the Union? Then guess what. You’re not flying to Afghanistan,” Baldwin’s Trump shot back.

“I can’t go on my vacation to a war zone? What will I do?” said McKinnon’s Pelosi.

The sketch also mocked the President’s attitude toward the shutdown’s repercussions on hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed or forced to work without pay.

“Every time that you choose ‘no deal,’ half a million federal employees work another day without getting paid,” Kenan Thompson as the host said.

“Cool story, bro,” Baldwin’s Trump responded. “No deal.”

Watch the full cold open here: