Updated March 1, 2026, 12:46 a.m. ET
The latest “SNL” cold open couldn’t be more timely.
“Saturday Night Live” kicked off its Feb. 28 episode with a sketch addressing news that the United States and Israel launched military strikes and combat operations against Iran earlier in the day, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the cold open, James Austin Johnson played President Donald Trump delivering remarks and declaring, “Happy World War III to all who celebrate!”
Johnson’s Trump went on to say he launched the attack on Iran because he and his “Board of Peace decided that we were bored of peace” and because he needed help “distracting from the Epstein files.”
“I know on the campaign trail I promised no new foreign wars,” he said. “But listen: Wars, plural, right? I’m allowed to do one.”
In a meta moment, Johnson’s Trump also implied the breaking news required “SNL” to throw out a cold open focused on the president’s State of the Union address earlier in the week.
“People are asking, ‘Why attack Iran now?’ Well, we had to strike in the early hours of Saturday, which has two advantages militarily: One, it’s after the stock market closes for the weekend, and two, it’s to cause immeasurable fear, rage and chaos in the ‘SNL’ writer’s room,” he said. “Those guys were going crazy. They probably had a big State of the Union address thing they were going to do. Not anymore!”
Colin Jost soon entered as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to declare that although he seems confident, “I am scared and I don’t know what I’m doing. When he said we were going to blow up the leader of Iran, I thought he was kidding.”
The “SNL” sketch kicked off the show’s first new episode after a nearly month-long hiatus. It was also a return to the sketch show’s typical format of beginning with a Trump spoof; the cold open of the previous episode on Jan. 31, hosted by Alexander Skarsgård, was rare in that it didn’t feature Johnson’s portrayal of the president. Instead, former cast member Pete Davidson returned to play White House border czar Tom Homan.
Connor Storrie hosted the Feb. 28 episode of “SNL,” coming off the massive success of “Heated Rivalry.” The hockey romance series, streaming on HBO Max, has catapulted Storrie from obscurity to stardom, and the actor made his debut on late-night television in January with a “Late Night With Seth Meyers” interview.
Mumford & Sons served as musical guest for Storrie’s “SNL” episode.
Who’s hosting ‘SNL’ next?
Saturday’s episode is the first of three consecutive weeks of new “SNL” shows.
Next week’s episode will feature the return of Ryan Gosling, who is serving as host for the fourth time alongside musical guest Gorillaz. The week after, Harry Styles is doing double duty as host and musical guest on March 14.