On Dec. 16, Saturday Night Live's opening sketch envisioned what President Donald Trump's first official Christmas in the White House might be like. And Scarlett Johansson made a cameo on SNL as Ivanka Trump, the First Daughter of the nation in the episode. SNL often focuses on Trump (regularly played by Alec Baldwin) during its opening sketch, but this one pulled out all the stops for the holiday. In the sketch, various members of the Trump administration (played by various SNL cast members) stopped by the White House to bring ornaments for the "shame" Christmas tree representing former employees.
Cecily Strong reprised her role as First Lady Melania Trump, along with Kate McKinnon, who played double duty as both Kellyanne Conway and Attorney General Jeff Sessions (dressed as the Elf on the Shelf). Leslie Jones took on the role of recently departed White House staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman. In the sketch, Baldwin's Trump called Ivanka his favorite daughter upon Johansson's arrival into the scene, and he asked her where her husband Jared Kushner was. She replied: "He's packing a go-bag before the FBI arrives. I'll always remember the one time I heard him talk." Ivanka brought him two ornaments: One of Republican Alabama senate candidate Roy More and a "Mad Ball," meant to be a Steve Bannon ornament. "As I said, there's a special place in hell and we're all there," she said in the sketch.
Eric and Donald Jr. dropped by as well with ornaments for the tree. Donald Jr. had a complex cut-out with several ex-White House staffers and Eric was proud of his "macaroni star" (made with cooked macaroni). McKinnon's Jeff Sessions, though, had the most important ornament of them all: The tree's star, which is an angel/snake with the face of Robert Mueller. As the White House cued up some Christmas music, Trump's ears perked up when he heard The Apprentice theme song. Turns out, Jones' Omarosa returned to the White House window, holding up a boom box playing the theme song (referencing the classic '80s film Say Anything...). Omarosa made another appearance during "Weekend Update" as well.
The episode was hosted by comedian Kevin Hart and the musical guest was the band Foo Fighters. This isn't the first time Johansson has taken on the role of Ivanka Trump. The actor hosted SNL back in March and played the First Daughter in a parody fragrance commercial for Ivanka, called "Complicit."
Johansson's SNL cameo also comes a few weeks after she made her first public appearance with reported boyfriend and SNL co-head writer Colin Jost, who also co-hosts "Weekend Update." According to People, Jost and Johansson made their first public appearance at the American Museum of Natural History Gala in New York City on Nov. 30. People reported that the rumored couple has been romantically linked since May, but neither Jost nor Johansson have publicly confirmed the reported relationship.
Baldwin often stops by SNL to play President Trump, but Ivanka does not have a regular portrayer on the show, though Johansson has played her several times. In 2016, guest host Emily Blunt portrayed Ivanka during the Beyonce "Sorry" parody "Melanianade" (a reference to Bey's acclaimed visual album Lemonade).
Could Johansson's repeat appearance as Ivanka mean she'll be taking on the role more often? Fans and viewers can only hope — she seems to have a lot of fun with it and Twitter is a fan of her impression.
See Johansson's impression the First Daughter for yourself in the video below and into the holiday spirit.
Either way, it seems like Johansson was willing to reprise her role as Ivanka just in time for the holiday season.
