‘SNL’: Alec Baldwin Returns as President Trump for First Time After Arrest

Alec Baldwin finally returned to Saturday Night Live to play President Donald Trump, a month after he was arrested for allegedly punching a man over a parking spot. Baldwin even referenced the arrest in the sketch.

Baldwin appeared in a new cold open with Cecily Strong as First Lady Melania Trump. The sketch was set in Argentina, where the real Trump is currently spending this weekend at the G20 summit. Ben Stiller also made another appearance as Michael Cohen.

During the couple’s conversation, Trump explained that he is still worried about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Melania later left Trump alone to talk to himself before Kate McKinnon popped in as Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, who turns out to be a vampire.

Trump then called Cohen, even though he is not supposed to be in contact with him. However, Cohen cannot say no to his “Donnie Trump-alufagus,” so he let Trump continue to talk. Cohen told Trump that Mueller has tapes of their night time conversations and records of their trips to Moscow.

“I’m sad you are going to prison, Mike. You were like a son to me,” Trump said.

“Then why did you have me do so much illegal stuff?” Cohen whined.

“Because you were like a son to me,” Trump replied.

After his call with Cohen, Trump stood by the balcony alone, disappointed in the current circumstances.

“God, I haven’t been this upset since I flipped out over that parking space,” Trump said, referring to Baldwin’s arrest last month.

Later in the sketch, Fred Armisen showed up as Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

Baldwin’s arrest was the butt of a joke during a cold open last month. At the end, Laura Ingraham (played by Kate McKinnon) joked that the next Fox News story would be an “Update from disgraced former actor Alec Baldwin, seen here molesting a young boy scout.” The image shown was from the 1990s sketch “Canteen Boy,” in which Baldwin played a creepy camp counselor who crosses boundaries with Adam Sandler.

Baldwin was arrested on Friday, Nov. 2 in New York City after an argument with another man near 10th Street and 5th Avenue. According to a witness, they were fighting over a parking spot.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that Baldwin punched the man. A witness said Baldwin yelled “f– off” during the argument. The other man reportedly had a swollen jaw.

After police arrived, the 30 Rock actor was arrested and taken to a New York Police Department precinct in Greenwich Village. Baldwin later issued a statement on the situation on Twitter, alleging that he never punched anyone over a parking spot.

“Normally, I would not comment on something as egregiously misstated as today’s story. However, the assertion that I punched anyone over a parking spot is false. I wanted to go on the record stating as much,” Baldwin wrote. “I realize that it has become a sport to tag people [with] as many negative charges and defaming allegations as possible for the purposes of clickbait entertainment. Fortunately, no matter how reverberating the [echoes], it doesn’t make the statements true.”

Hours after Baldwin’s arrest, President Trump was asked about Baldwin’s arrest. He jokingly told reporters, “I wish him luck.”

Donald Trump Jr. had a more direct response, writing, “Is anyone shocked at this piece of garbage anymore? As if the phone calls to his daughter weren’t bad enough. He’s a lib so he gets chance after chance to be decent but always fails!”

Baldwin’s issue with controlling his anger is well-documented and has been arrested before. In 2013, Baldwin was accused of using an anti-gay slur when he chased a photographer outside his New York City apartment. In 2014, he was arrested after riding a bicycle the wrong way and allegedly getting into an argument with police officers during the arrest.

Tonight’s episode of SNL was only Baldwin’s second of the season so far. He made his first appearance in the Oct. 13 cold open, during a parody of rapper Kanye West’s visit to the Oval Office. In the sketch, Baldwin’s Trump came to realize West is the “black me.”

Baldwin won an Emmy for playing Trump on SNL last year and received another nomination this year. While Baldwin’s Trump may win praise from SNL creator Lorne Michaels and Emmy voters, Trump himself has tweeted that Darrell Hammond was better.

“Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent,” Trump tweeted in March.

SNL airs at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays.

Photo Credit: NBC