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Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump received an uncomfortable call Saturday night. The cold open for the season 43 premiere of Saturday Night Live mocked Trump’s negative response to San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz’s pleas for help in Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
In the sketch, Trump confidently strides into the Oval Office, eager to pick up the phone to hear Melissa Villaseñor’s Cruz tell him “what a great job I’m doing.”
Instead, Cruz bristles when Trump explains that he can send help “by Tuesday, Wednesday the latest.”
“We want to help you,” he says, “but we have to take care of America first.”
When Cruz responds that the island is a US territory, Trump’s jaw drops before he hangs up and declares, “That woman was so nasty.”
The sketch referenced Trump’s own words about Cruz, which he tweeted Saturday morning. Cruz had begged Trump “to take charge and save lives,” but in response, Trump tweeted that Cruz has “poor leadership ability” and that the people of Puerto Rico “want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”
The cold open presented a catalog of Trump administration greatest hits, with Kate McKinnon returning to play Attorney General Jeff Sessions (and sitting on Baldwin’s lap at one point) and Aidy Bryant taking on Sarah Huckabee Sanders. In addition to Trump’s Puerto Rico comments, the sketch also tackled Trump’s attacks on the NFL and the administration’s rash of resignations since January, according to US entertainment media reports.