Donald Trump may be reprising his role as a presidential candidate this election cycle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean his SNL counterpart will.
In a Hollywood Reporter interview out today, Lorne Michaels was notably vague when the topic of Saturday Night Live’s future plans for Trump came up.
The part of the former president has been played by James Austin Johnson since 2021, when he first joined the show with a viral Trump impression. Johnson’s rambling, tangent-heavy take on Trump was preceded by Alec Baldwin, who signed on in a recurring guest star capacity to portray Trump between 2016-2020. (Maya Rudolph has already made a similar commitment to play Kamala Harris this season.)
Asked whether Johnson “will continue playing Trump, or do you welcome Alec Baldwin back?,” Michaels didn’t offer a clear-cut answer.
“I think James will be there,” the SNL creator said, “but I don’t want to get into what I’m doing.”
“Trump has morphed,” he added. “James, who I think is brilliant, played Trump as the sort of diminished Trump. The guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant. But we are going to have to reinvent it again because, well, you saw the debate.”
Michaels didn’t elaborate on what that morphing might mean for Johnson, instead speaking in general terms about the need for SNL to evolve its impressions over time. “One of the great parts of show business is that you can’t come back with the same show. So, all of these characters have to be reexamined, and if it makes sense and feels relevant, you know you’re on the right track,” he explained.
Although Johnson’s Trump impression would seem to be in a league of its own, there’s certainly precedent for Saturday Night Live recasting its presidents—and not only when cast members leave.
During Barack Obama’s presidency, Jay Pharaoh replaced Fred Armisen‘s long-running impression once he became a repertory player, even though Armisen remained a part of the cast.
And over the last five years alone, the show adjusted its take on Joe Biden at least five times, with Woody Harrelson and Jim Carrey playing candidate Biden, and Alex Moffat, James Austin Johnson, and finally Mikey Day playing him as president. (Johnson, for his part, appeared to be angling for another shot at Biden as recently as this past Spring, when he told LateNighter’s podcast partners at The Saturday Night Network, “I’d for sure do it again, I mean, those kind of conversations are probably ongoing even as we speak.”)
Whoever will play Trump this time around, Michaels sounds confident in his choice. “I think we have the people to play [the candidates] and it should be fun,” he told THR.
Saturday Night Live‘s 50th season premieres September 28 on NBC and Peacock.
