“Saturday Night Live” began its season finale by mocking the prospect of the Qatari royal family gifting a luxury jet to serve as Air Force One.
As his trip to the Middle East wrapped up on Saturday, Donald Trump used Truth Social to rail against ABC News for raising questions about his desire to accept a luxury $400 million plane from the Qatari government, as the replacement plane has been delayed.
In the SNL cold open, the show’s Trump impersonator, James Austin Johnson, discussed his trip with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, played by Emil Wakim.
Johnson’s Trump said he participated in the trip “for the American people,” he said, “I did very well on this trip. I got a lot of cool stuff.”
“The Qataris gave me a $400 million plane, can you believe that? And people said that it was some sort of a bribe. Not true, not true. Because they haven’t asked for anything in return.”
“Well, not yet,” Wakim’s Prince Salman interjected.
Trump responded: “So it’s a pre-bribe. But now people are saying I should really be flying in an American plane. Ah, no thanks. Have you seen what is going on with our planes?”
Johnson’s Trump continued, “Since it’s a finale, after tonight that means you won’t be seeing me here for a while. Well, not the fake, fun version of me that makes you smile.”
He added, “The real one will still be omnipresent. You can’t escape me, right? I’m everywhere, even in your dreams, like the late, great Freddy Krueger.”
In his Truth Social post, the real president insisted that the plane wouldn’t be a gift to him, but to the Pentagon. The US Constitution forbids the president from accepting a gift without congressional approval.
“This highly respected country is donating the plane to the United States Air Force/ Defense Department, AND NOT TO ME,” Trump wrote on Saturday, just before the “SNL” sketch aired.
Both Democrats and MAGA loyalists have criticized the proposed gift as ethically suspect, legally questionable, and a potential security risk.
If the deal goes through, Trump has said the aircraft would be temporarily used as Air Force One during his remaining time in office before being donated to his presidential library.
Qatar’s media attaché to the US, Ali Al-Ansari, told Business Insider in a statement on Wednesday that the transfer of the aircraft was “under consideration.”
Al-Ansari said the matter “remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made.”
