Alec Baldwin has said that Saturday Night Live invited Donald Trump to return to the show but that he declined.
Trump last hosted the long-running NBC show in November 2015. Speaking on Ellen DeGeneres’ US talk show on Wednesday (May 3), Baldwin claimed that the show wanted Trump to appear during the Baldwin-hosted episode that aired this February.
“When we did the show, when I hosted SNL this season, we asked him to come,” Baldwin said. “We invited him to come, we were so hopeful he would come, but he didn’t show up.”
Baldwin’s impersonations of Trump have been hugely popular in the run-up to last year’s US Presidential election and since Trump’s win and inauguration. Trump has repeatedly responded to Baldwin’s impersonations and REM’s Michael Stipe even blamed Baldwin’s impression of the billionaire businessman, in part, for his unexpected political rise.
However, Baldwin has indicated that he might soon retire his Trump impersonation.
Baldwin was recently asked by the Press Association how much longer he would impersonate Trump, to which he replied: “Not much longer. This season on SNL… I’m going to do it as much as I can because I love them. They’re my dear friends. After that, I don’t quite know. I don’t quite know if people want to continue with that. If everything stays the same in this country as it is now, I don’t think people will be in the mood to laugh about it come September [when the next season premieres].”