SNL's Finale Cold Open: Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump, Scarlett Johansson's Ivanka And Others Sing 'Hallelujah'
May 21, 2017, 8:42 a.m.
'I’m not giving up, because I didn’t do anything wrong.'
To cap off a unexpectedly blockbuster season of skewering the 2016 presidential campaign and results, Saturday Night Live assembled its Trump White House for the finale's cold open: Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump, flanked by his trusted advisers, including a Grim Reaper Steve Bannon, singing "Hallelujah."
Kellyanne Conway (Kate McKinnon), Mike Pence (Beck Bennett), Eric Trump (Alex Moffatt), Donald Trump Jr. (Mikey Day), Steve Bannon (Grim Reaper) and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Aidy Bryant) joined him one or two at a time, until finally Melanie Trump (Cecily Strong) and Ivanka Trump (Scarlett Johansson) rounded out the chorus. Baldwin as Trump said, "I’m not giving up, because I didn’t do anything wrong... But I can’t speak for these people," waving at his team.
The cold open was a callback the sober post-election SNL cold open where McKinnon, as a defeated Hillary Clinton, sang "Hallelujah" and told the audience at the end, "I’m not giving up, and neither should you." This time, it was more comical, perhaps subtly alluding to reports that the White House counsel has started "researching" impeachment.
It's also unclear if Baldwin will continue to portray Trump. While he has acknowledged that the impression has "reinvigorated" his career, he told the Hollywood Reporter later week, "Look, I'd love to keep doing this per my availability, but I have other things I'm going to do, so I guess we'll figure it out. If I'm doing a film [a Lamborghini biopic opposite Antonio Banderas] in Rome in the fall, you can bet I'm going to be on a satellite from Rome doing Trump. (In Trump's voice) 'We're going to tear down the Pantheon. These paintings all gotta go. They're disgusting. By the way, this place is filled with Italians. Italy is wall to wall Italians.' I have a lot of things I'm supposed to do. I'm sure Lorne will find ways to kill them. He'll call the producer: 'You know he can't kiss his wife in the scene because of that disease he has.'"
Also, it seems like Baldwin's daughter knows Saturday is when he plays Trump:
