At the Tribeca Festival, James Austin Johnson—who plays President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live”—laughed through questions about whether comedians must fear repercussions. The event marked the premiere of “Playing POTUS,” a documentary tracing how “SNL”
James Austin Johnson’s Trump voice was already working overtime by the time he sat down at Tribeca for the premiere of a new documentary about presidential comedy. In the room. the jokes landed—then quickly turned to a more uncomfortable subject: how far satire can safely go when the president is the target.
Johnson. who currently plays President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live. ” appeared after the screening of “Playing POTUS. ” directed by Josh Greenbaum. The film premiered June 6 at the Tribeca Festival in New York City and follows the history of U.S. presidents being lampooned on “Saturday Night Live” and other shows.
On stage. Johnson leaned into the same manic rhythm that defines the show’s cold opens—rambling. jumping from topic to topic in the character’s voice—before describing how he tries to shape Trump’s persona for the camera. He said he’s thinking about “a guy who’s been working in retail for like five decades. in a corner. in an uncomfortable chair somewhere. and he’s just doing that to whatever new worker is walking past. ” adding. “I want to play it like it’s a man talking alone in a room. and he’d just be saying all that stuff.”.
The documentary’s story isn’t only about punchlines. It’s also about empathy, influence and perception—how comedy can soften politics into something audiences feel they understand, and how that influence cuts both ways.
After the film, Greenbaum joined a panel discussion with legendary former “SNL” writers Jim Downey and Robert Smigel, alongside Johnson. Dana Carvey, Will Ferrell, Alec Baldwin and others are featured in the documentary as they look back on presidential impersonations. The film also points to the possibility that comics may have played a major role in shaping how Americans perceived their leaders.
On the panel, the conversation turned to whether Johnson has to feel empathy to portray Trump. The question was direct. Johnson responded with a line designed to shut down the premise: “If you can’t tell how I feel about Donald Trump from the way that I do him, you’re a moron.”
He also described a gap between what he believes he’s doing and what some audience members think they’re buying. Johnson said people often come to see him perform live under the mistaken impression “that I love Donald Trump. ” and end up walking out. He suggested his approach focuses more on humor than on admiration. saying. “I think I play his charm a little bit more. maybe than Alec [Baldwin] did. ” and adding that he sees himself as leaning on what he called “the secret weapon that he’s deployed. ” because Trump can come off “funny − intentionally and unintentionally. kind of a hilarious guy.” Johnson said that type of charisma isn’t necessarily the kind of trait someone should chase at the ballot box. but he called it “extremely powerful.”.
Then came the question that made the room feel different.
During an audience Q&A, an attendee asked whether comedians now feel they have to “walk on eggshells” while making fun of the president because of concerns about repercussions. The panel then turned directly to Johnson: was he fearful of Trump?
Johnson did not hedge. He asked back, “Am I fearful of the crazy person who wields the military … and seems to target individuals?” and followed with, “Yeah, I hope my name never comes out of his mouth.”
The documentary places that tension inside a wider look at political comedy—how it evolved, who comedians felt they were portraying, and whether satire is being treated like entertainment or like civic power.
Downey. who wrote for “SNL” for decades dating back to 1976. said he sometimes feels “we did a little too much political stuff” on the show. He also explained that there used to be a different balance in how cold opens operated. Downey said that at one point their cold openings were “only political about a third of the time. at most. ” and described how that changed after “we started to get a lot of attention” for political sketches in the mid-1980s. He said creator Lorne Michaels came to feel it was “almost like we were a daily newspaper. and we had an obligation to the public to put something political up front.”.
The film also spotlights comedian Kate McKinnon. who described feeling “very protective” of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton while playing her on “SNL.” That line reframes the panel’s empathy question as something more complicated than approval or opposition: even when performers mock. they may still carry personal attachments to the people they portray.
Other featured performers include Maya Rudolph, Keegan-Michael Key and Chevy Chase. The documentary raises whether Chase’s portrayal of Gerald Ford as a clumsy fool on “SNL” contributed to Ford’s loss in the 1976 election. When Chase is asked if he feels guilty about that, he laughs and says, “No!. Not at all.”.
Ferrell, who played George W. Bush on “SNL,” offered a different kind of stake. In an interview during the movie, he argues that satirizing the president is a privilege that shouldn’t be taken for granted, saying: “As long as we’re still allowed to do that, this democracy is going to survive.”
At Tribeca, the documentary’s central idea landed with more force than its premise alone. In the span of a screening and a panel discussion. satire wasn’t just described—it was performed. debated. and questioned under the pressure of real-world consequences. with Johnson making clear that the jokes can be funny. but the fear of getting on the wrong person’s list is not something he treats as entertainment.
James Austin Johnson Saturday Night Live Trump impression Tribeca Festival Playing POTUS Josh Greenbaum SNL writers Jim Downey Robert Smigel political comedy Alec Baldwin Will Ferrell Kate McKinnon Chevy Chase Hillary Clinton Gerald Ford