William Vaillancourt
Contact William Vaillancourt by Email View all posts by William Vaillancourt May 17, 2026
NBC/SNL Saturday Night Live‘s Weekend Update addressed Donald Trump‘s brief time in China this week, as well as FBI Director Kash Patel‘s reportedly excessive alcohol consumption habits.
Trump’s trip to Beijing to meet with President XI Jinping was 14,000 miles in total, and his time on the ground was just 48 hours—an event “which historians are already calling, ‘Could’ve been an email,'” Colin Jost joked.
“President Trump arrived in China, but instead of Xi Jinping, he was greeted by the country’s vice president, Han Zheng—or as Trump called him, ‘Xi Jinping,'” Jost added.
Co-anchor Michael Che then riffed on how, at one point, Chinese school children were arranged at the Great Hall of the People to greet and cheer for Trump. They shouted, “It’s the man from the hats we make!” Che joked.
Che went on to say that Trump brought his second-oldest son, Eric, to China “as a gift.”
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che! pic.twitter.com/Wjynvy3vmT
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) May 17, 2026
Jost then turned to how Cuba has seen blackouts due to the collapse of its power grid, as well as an oil shortage. That spurred a visit this week from CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
“We sent the CIA director because the FBI guy is also experiencing massive blackouts,” Jost joked as Patel’s photo showed on screen.
Later in the segment, Che ripped Trump’s lack of creativity over his new nickname for Democrats: “Dumocrats.”
