Elon Musk slams SNL over Trump-Zelenskyy spoof: 'Humor fails when it lies'

Elon Musk blasts SNL's White House parody, saying 'Humor fails when it lies', after the show mocked Trump and Zelenskyy's tense meeting, sparking online debate

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has taken issue with a Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit that parodied last week’s tense White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

 

Musk, responding to a clip of the sketch on X (formerly Twitter), wrote, “Humor fails when it lies,” blasting SNL’s portrayal of the political encounter.

 

Humor fails when it lies

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2025

 

SNL parody on Trump, Ukraine, and more 

The SNL skit, titled ‘Elon Musk’s Cold Open’, featured James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, alongside Bowen Yang as Vice-President JD Vance, confronting Mikey Day’s Zelenskyy over Ukraine’s war with Russia.

 

 

A major twist in the skit came with a surprise appearance by Tesla CEO Elon Musk – played by SNL alumnus Mike Myers – dressed in a long black coat and wielding a chainsaw.

 

The skit opened with Johnson’s Trump introducing himself as the “President and CEO of Gaza Hotel and Casino”, before telling Zelenskyy, “Welcome to this incredible trap; it’s going to be a big, beautiful trap, and we’re going to attack him very soon for no reason.”

 

Yang’s JD Vance chimed in with, “Watch out, ‘cause this kitty’s got claws.”

 

One of the skit’s standout comedic moments featured Johnson’s Trump mockingly thanking Zelenskyy for his outfit, saying, “Love the casual Star Trek-look. It’s a great show because there’s no DEI. The white guy was the leader, and he bossed around Spock, who I believe was Guatemalan.”

 

SNL also mocks Musk and Zelenskyy

 

The skit also depicted Trump urging Zelenskyy to apologise to Russian President Vladimir Putin and offer his wife as a peace gesture. This led to a dramatic outburst from Yang’s JD Vance, who shouted, “What happened to ‘thank you’? You haven’t said thank you once in the past 15 seconds I’ve been yelling at you!”

 

The parody further exaggerated Trump’s speech patterns, with him listing random items: “I have the cards. I have Skip. I have Draw Four. I have Reverse. I have Get Out of Jail Free-- the Supreme Court gave me that one. I have Pikachu, Charmander and Charizard. All I’m missing is a Charmeleon.”

 

But the moment that drew Musk’s reaction came when Mike Myers, playing Musk, entered the scene holding a chainsaw and declared, "They’re saying I’m firing people with no cause. But I do have cause. It’s ‘cause I feel like it."

 

The real White House clash 

The SNL skit was a satirical take on last Friday’s high-stakes White House meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy. During the real-life discussion, Zelenskyy sought security guarantees from the US as Ukraine continued its war with Russia. However, Trump pushed for concessions to expedite a resolution.

 

Tensions escalated when Vance accused Zelenskyy of not showing enough gratitude for US aid, despite the Ukrainian leader opening the meeting with words of thanks. The conversation grew heated when Trump interrupted, telling Zelenskyy, “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”

 

The meeting ended without a resolution. Trump scrapped a planned joint press conference and cancelled the signing of a minerals agreement. The Ukrainian delegation was asked to leave.