> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.theomnicosm.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # No more Trump, ‘SNL’ - URL: https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-trump/ - Published: 2026-11-04T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T12:35:53.000Z - Description: The David S. Pumpkins debacle should put an end to the show’s obsession. - Author: Bill Kuchman - Tags: The Cold Open • Extras, The Cold Open, SNL, James Austin Johnson, Alec Baldwin America made it clear last night: We’re tired. We’re over it. And it’s time to move on. Take the message, *SNL*. No more **Donald Trump**. It’s been a long ten years. For the past decade, Trump has had a stranglehold on our politics, our nation and our cold opens. Seriously. I ran the numbers. ## Sign up for The Cold Open Love reading about **Saturday Night Live*? Get ****The Open** newsletter in your inbox. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Beginning with **Alec Baldwin** taking over the *SNL* portrayal of Trump when he was running for president at the beginning of Season 42, some version of Trump has appeared in 93 of 205 episodes. That era stretches from Baldwin to **James Austin Johnson**, with [one appearance of **Shane Gillis** as Trump in the mix.](https://www.theomnicosm.com/snl-shouldve-fired-shane-gillis-a-second-time/) Ninety-three episodes! That’s an absurd number. Trump wasn’t even president for four of those years. By my math, Baldwin played Trump in 15 episodes in Season 42, 10 episodes in Season 43, seven episodes in Season 44, six episodes in the pandemic-shortened Season 45 and four episodes in Season 46. Baldwin’s four appearances as Trump in Season 46 came over the season’s first six episodes. That sixth episode came the night when the 2020 presidential election was called for **Joe Biden**. **Lorne Michaels** immediately and silently scuttled not only Baldwin but also **Jim Carrey** as Biden and **Maya Rudolph** as **Kamala Harris**. It was almost a full year until *SNL* brought Trump back, with Johnson’s take on Trump premiering on Nov. 6, 2021\. It’s a great impression, but it quickly spiraled out of control. Johnson has portrayed Trump six times in Season 47, eight times in the strike-shortened Season 48, six times in Season 49 (Gillis played Trump once), 13 times in Season 50, 14 times in Season 51 and already three times over the first four episodes of Season 52. It’s been a long decade. The Baldwin era made *SNL* angry. It made it dark. It stifled [the careers of so many *SNL* cast members](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-lost-snl-generation/). The Johnson era is different. Johnson is a fantastic Trump, but people don’t want to see every episode of *SNL* begin with Trump anymore. Especially not when in the increasingly lazy and insulting ways that *SNL* has turned to forcing Trump into cold opens. Episodes don’t always have to begin with a political sketch. It’s perfectly fine for a cold open to *not* address the news of the week. Trump has already permeated our lives everywhere else. A break for the 90 minutes of *SNL* would be nice. It would also take a burden off the show’s writers, who have found themselves having to [write Trump-centric cold opens after federal agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis](https://www.theomnicosm.com/snl-bounces-back-thanks-to-teyana-taylor-and-ashley-padilla/). [The David S. Pumpkins debacle](https://www.theomnicosm.com/the-cold-open-snl-inde-navarrette/) was the final straw. Teasing viewers with the return of a fan-favorite character only to have Johnson’s Trump pull the “I’m breaking the fourth wall!” move was already bad enough. Having Johnson’s Trump then mock viewers for being foolish enough to be excited that **Tom Hanks** and **Bobby Moynihan** returned to *SNL* for a new David S. Pumpkins sketch is unforgivable. I saw someone over on Threads boldly assert that *SNL*’s overuse of Trump had a purpose. “Most people hated it and felt cheated,” this person wrote. “But that's the whole point. *SNL* is continuing this bit they started this season to show us that Trump ruins things and makes any situation he's in all about himself.” That’s absolutely not what’s happening here. In a normal world, we’d get the occasional cold open about the president. (Think of how rarely **Jay Pharoah** played **Barack Obama**.) *SNL* brought Baldwin on back in 2016 thinking that Trump would lose and the show would return to normal. The show never returned to normal. The world never returned to normal. It’s now been so long that Michaels and *SNL* have forgotten how to balance things. The show’s obsession with Trump has gone so far that it’s now turned recurring sketches toxic. That should end this weekend. No more Trump, *SNL*. Everything you need to know about Season 52 Check out the complete list of **SNL* Season 52 hosts, musical guests and reviews. [We talkin’ TV? ](https://www.theomnicosm.com/who-is-hosting-snl/) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f4/8b/f48be8ca-23c6-4d81-b0cf-da2fb0785911/content/images/2026/08/the-cold-open-wordmark-1.png)](#/portal/account/plans) ****The Cold Open is a publication of The Omnicosm.** Issue No. 100 ****The Cold Open** is written and produced by ****Bill Kuchman**. Copyediting by ****Tim Kuchman**. Get the full ****The Omnicosm** experience. Add ****Snackology** and ****Popculturology** to your subscription ****via your account settings**. 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