Saturday Night Live (SNL) took aim at the newly released Jeffrey Epstein files in its latest cold open, highlighting an email in which Epstein’s brother wondered whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had “the photos” of U.S. President Donald Trump “blowing Bubba.”
Why It Matters
Earlier this week, congressional lawmakers released thousands of pages of emails tied to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The documents referenced numerous high-profile figures, including Trump.
Trump, who was once friendly with Epstein, has said their relationship soured years before Epstein’s first sex-related conviction and has denied any wrongdoing connected to him.
Epstein died in a New York jail in August 2019. A joint memo from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), released in July, reaffirmed that Epstein died by suicide at the now-closed Metropolitan Correctional Center.
What Happened on SNL
In the cold open, Trump—portrayed by James Austin Johnson—claims he is selling the Epstein files for $800 each. He holds up a framed, “one-of-a-kind, printed-out screenshot, in very low-res” that appears to mimic one of the email exchanges released on Wednesday.
“It makes a great stocking stuffer,” the fictional Trump says. “I just ordered the one that says, ‘Does Putin have the photo of Trump blowing Bubba?’ We love that one. Whatever the hell that means.”
One of the real emails released by the House this week, dated March 2018, shows real estate investor Mark Epstein telling his brother, Jeffrey, to ask Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, whether Putin has “the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”
“Bubba” is a nickname sometimes used for former President Bill Clinton. Mark Epstein told Newsweek that the person mentioned in the email was not Clinton but did not clarify who “Bubba” was or what the message meant.
Trump, Putin and Long-Running Rumors
Since returning to the Oval Office at the start of the year, Trump has eased tensions between the White House and the Kremlin, even meeting Putin in Alaska. After months of appearing hesitant to pressure Russia into peace talks over Ukraine—despite Trump’s pledge to quickly end the war—he imposed new sanctions on Moscow last month and has sharply criticized deadly Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.
In 2021, The Guardian reported that leaked documents dated January 2016 appeared to indicate that the Kremlin possessed kompromat—a Russian term for compromising material—on Trump related to his “non-official visits to Russian Federation territory” before he became president. Earlier reports from 2017 also suggested Russian intelligence might hold damaging material on Trump, a claim both Trump and Moscow have strongly denied.
Official Responses
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the Epstein-related emails “prove absolutely nothing other than President Trump did nothing wrong.”
On Friday, the DOJ said it would honor a request from Trump to investigate Epstein’s alleged ties to former President Bill Clinton and investment bank JPMorgan.
The joint FBI–DOJ memo from July stated that officials did “not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
What People Are Saying
During the SNL cold open, James Austin Johnson’s Trump character joked about his past connection to Epstein, saying:
“Jeffrey Epstein, I barely knew the guy, as evidenced by the thousands of pictures of us together dancing and grinding our teeth at various parties, always leering and pointing at something just off camera, probably a book we’re excited to read.”
What’s Next
The House of Representatives is expected to vote next week on a bill that would require the DOJ to release all unclassified material related to Epstein.
