‘SNL’: Alec Baldwin Returning as President Trump During Don Cheadle Episode

Alec Baldwin returns to Saturday Night Live as President Donald Trump this weekend in the latest teaser.

Baldwin’s impression of the president has become the bread and butter of SNL‘s political satire. However, the actor has been absent from the show since it returned from holiday hiatus on last month. After sitting out for two weeks, he will be back this weekend, and a new promo promises a dramatic comeback for the actor.

The teaser takes fans behind the scenes of SNL, starting in the wardrobe department. It shows Baldwin looking deadly serious as he gets his false eyebrows and wig in place. The actor’s own impression plays in voiceover, listing some of his most typical lines as the president. The teaser ends with Baldwin in full costume with his purse-lipped epression, standing in the studio as his voice-over says “live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”

In all reality, this dramatic “return” teaser is playing up Baldwin’s absence a bit more than necessary. The actor did not appear in the last two episodes live, although last week his voice was featured on a pre-recorded digital short, “Women of Congress.” There was also one Saturday without a new episode at the beginning of this month, meaning that it has been three weeks since Baldwin donned his blonde wig.

In addition, Baldwin is not a part of the show’s main cast, and cannot be expected to show up every week. He generally appears in the cold open skit alone, and then bows out for the night.

There have was another big celebrity cameo for the political skits in the meantime. In the second-most recent episode, Steve Martin appeared in the cold open to play Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, who had just been arrested at the time.

Meanwhile, last week’s cold open featured just the show’s main cast members, and went after the press itself. It mocked NBC‘s Meet the Press, showing a scandalous report getting out of hand and overshadowing real political news.

However Baldwin features in this week’s cold open, it is sure to be a good one. The show is hosted this week by Avengers: Endgame star Don Cheadle.

Saturday Night Live airs weekly at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.