Donald Trump’s latest legal broadside against the press includes a surprising detour through Studio 8H.
Late Monday, the president filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and several of its top reporters, accusing them of orchestrating a decades-long effort to portray him as a fraud. The suit, filed in federal court in Tampa, takes aim at reporting that detailed how Trump allegedly built his fortune through tax schemes, and it bristles at the Times giving The Apprentice producer Mark Burnett credit for the show’s success instead of Trump himself. The filing also cites a pre-election interview in which retired Gen. John Kelly said he believed Trump “met the definition of fascist.”
But nestled in the 85-page legal filing is something else entirely: Trump’s showbiz résumé.
In paragraph 58, Trump’s lawyers present a sweeping list of his “history-making media appearances,” from WrestleMania V and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to Home Alone 2 and Zoolander—and, notably, “Hosted Saturday Night Live (2015).” All told, the filing rattles off more than two dozen cameos and TV credits, positioning Trump not just as a maligned businessman and political leader, but also as a bona fide entertainment icon.
It’s an oddly theatrical flourish in a complaint that otherwise accuses the Times of being “a full-throated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party.” The newspaper has dismissed the suit as “meritless” and vowed to fight it.
Trump’s history with Saturday Night Live has been fraught. He first hosted the show in 2004 during his Apprentice heyday and returned in 2015 while running for president, prompting protests outside Rockefeller Center. As he rose in political prominence, he became a frequent target of the show’s satire, leading Trump to frequently rail against the show onlinr, seeming to take particular issue with Alec Baldwin’s unflattering portrayal during his first term in office.
The lawsuit fits into Trump’s long-running pattern of media combat. He has previously sued ABC, CBS, and the Wall Street Journal, and has touted settlements as victories. In a Truth Social post, Trump called the Times suit “a major expansion of my full-court press against the press.”
Now, that full-court press includes a reminder that he once took the stage at SNL—live from New York.
Funny he filed this in Florida.
Now he can go judge shopping.
Bet Cannon ends up with it.
SNL is failing and unfunny unless he is hosting it. Riiiiiight.
I think Trump and Elon are tied for the worst episodes of SNL from the last 20 years (would be of its entire history, but it’s tough to knock the crown off Milton Berle’s head… either one of them.)