“Saturday Night Live” is taking on the White House’s new look.
A pre-recorded sketch on the show’s Nov. 1 episode parodied President Donald Trump’s controversial demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make room for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The sketch depicted a “very special episode” of HGTV’s “Property Brothers,” with Miles Teller playing twin hosts Drew and Jonathan Scott as they are hired to build Trump’s $300 million ballroom.
In the sketch, the brothers describe working with Trump (James Austin Johnson) on the remodeling, with Jonathan Scott saying they asked him “if he needed a permit,” to which the president laughed and responded, “I could build this ballroom with the bones of my enemies and no one could stop me.”
Drew Scott also explains he “told Donald that our No. 1 priority was to preserve the historic nature of the building,” only for Trump to send him a GIF of the White House blowing up in “Independence Day.”
Trump is shown repeatedly enlarging the ballroom on a computer model and making a board with visual inspirations, including Jabba the Hutt’s palace from “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” The sketch also mocked Trump for paving over the Rose Garden, with Jonathan Scott saying it now looks like “outdoor seating at an Olive Garden.”
Johnson’s Trump ultimately declares his ballroom will be “ready just in time for my third term” because he’s “not leaving” and will be “doing something called coup!” The sketch ends with Jonathan and Drew Scott going to Trump to get paid, only for the president to call in ICE agents to arrest them because they’re Canadian.
Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House was also parodied this week on “South Park.” In a special Halloween episode, Trump tearing down the East Wing unleashes a vengeful spirit, leading members of his administration to hold a seance.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found 56% of Americans oppose Trump’s East Wing demolition and plans to construct a ballroom, with only 15% saying they “strongly support” it. Trump has said he is using private donations to pay for the project.
Teller hosted the episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which opened with a sketch parodying the New York City mayoral election, starring Teller as Andrew Cuomo, Ramy Youssef as Zohran Mamdani and Shane Gillis as Curtis Sliwa.
Contributing: Joey Garrison, USA TODAY
