--- ---  # Republican Leaders Are 'Ride or Die' With President Trump on 'Saturday Night Live' ## Video: Trump's Tariff Hike Looms Over Ongoing U.S.-China Trade Talks [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's Tariff Hike Looms Over Ongoing U.S.-China Trade Talks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/w8Nk6eme.m3u8) (0:49)  _Published 2019-05-10. U.S. and Chinese negotiators met Thursday just hours before the United States was set to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the world’s two biggest economies._  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza May 12, 2019 3:04 PM UTC  Pictured left to right: Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, and Nick Jonas of musical guest the Jonas Brothers, with host Emma Thompson and Pete Davidson in Studio 8H on Thursday, May 9, 2019 Pictured left to right: Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas, and Nick Jonas of musical guest the Jonas Brothers, with host Emma Thompson and Pete Davidson in Studio 8H on Thursday, May 9, 2019Rosalind O'Connor—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza May 12, 2019 3:04 PM UTC There’s literally nothing the President could do to lose the support of of the GOP in Congress, at least according to this week’s _Saturday Night Live_ cold open. The sketch, which aired Saturday night, took the form of an episode of MSNBC’s _Meet the Press._ Host [Chuck Todd](http://time.com/5249584/donald-trump-tweets-sleepy-eyes-chuck-todd/), played by SNL’s Kyle Mooney, led a discussion with Republican congressional leaders about what it would take for them to abandon their support for the President. The sketch started covered Trump’s escalating [trade war with China](http://time.com/5586262/trump-china-trade-war-tariffs/). “You all have opposed tariffs in the past,” said Mooney’s Todd. “Do you all support the President’s tariffs now?” “Well, Chuck, there’s a simple answer to that,” responded Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, played by _SNL_ cast member Beck Bennett. “There was no collusion.” “When you have a President who’s a financial genius and a business Jesus like Donald Trump, you’ve just got to trust him,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (played by Kate McKinnon). “This man has [lost a hundred times more money](http://time.com/5585697/trump-tax-write-offs-sport/) than I have ever made.” Mooney’s Todd went on to ask what would happen if [Special Council Robert Mueller testified](http://time.com/5578222/robert-mueller-testify/) before Congress that he believed Trump had committed obstruction of justice. “The best way to uphold the law is to be above it,” responded McKinnon-as-Graham. Asked what might happen if Mueller testified that Trump colluded with the Russians, Sen. Susan Collins (played by Cecily Strong) responded, “I’d have to write a strongly worded email and send it straight to my draft folder.” Watch the full sketch here: Republicans Are 'Ride or Die' With President Trump on 'SNL' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/"},"headline":"Republican Leaders Are 'Ride or Die' With President Trump on 'Saturday Night Live'","datePublished":"2019-05-12T15:04:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:08.041Z","description":"\"The best way to uphold the law is to be above it\"","url":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Saturday Night Live","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf89121d724f7edf7/698949d016d8846e1cc35158/saturday-night-live-meet-the-press.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alejandro de la Garza","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf89121d724f7edf7/698949d016d8846e1cc35158/saturday-night-live-meet-the-press.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 44","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 44","creditText":"Rosalind O'Connor—NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/","name":"Republican Leaders Are 'Ride or Die' With President Trump on 'Saturday Night Live'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump's Tariff Hike Looms Over Ongoing U.S.-China Trade Talks","description":"U.S. and Chinese negotiators met Thursday just hours before the United States was set to raise tariffs on Chinese imports in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/w8Nk6eme/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-05-10T04:00:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/w8Nk6eme.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/","duration":"PT49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5587744/republican-leaders-trump-saturday-night-live/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```