‘No place in operation kill everybody’: SNL torches Hegseth over Venezuelan strike scandal

Colin Jost brought out the brass-knuckle satire on Saturday Night Live, channeling Pete Hegseth as a Pentagon chief who is an aggressive, angry man and struggling to downplay the scandal of his alleged war crimes against Venezuelan drug boats.

In the mock press conference, Jost’s Hegseth barked, “First things first — where are the fatties? You, out!” before trying to spin away allegations that he ordered a second strike on Venezuelan drug boats, one that killed two survivors still clinging to wreckage.


“That kind of cruel, heartless act has no place in Operation Kill Everybody,” he told reporters.

Hegseth continued to distance himself from the incident by explaining, “I wasn’t even in the room when it happened, OK? I was so jacked up after the first strike I had to make an emergency call to my sponsor—I’m sorry, a guy I met at an anonymous meeting.”
‘No place in Operation Kill Everybody’: SNL torches Hegseth over Venezuelan strike scandal
One reporter at the press conference, played by cast member Ashley Padilla, asked Hegseth about Arizona Senator Mark Kelly’s real quote alleging that Hegseth is just a “12-year-old playing army.” “Oh, get a husband,” Jost told her. Padilla’s character snapped back, “I’m trying!”

Hegseth soon added, “Let’s just say: if I had a drink for every Venezuelan we’ve killed, I’d really like that number of drinks.”

He also tried to defend President Donald Trump, telling the reporters, “Unlike you beta cucks, he’s a high-energy alpha who trusts me and listens to me no matter what. Isn’t that right, Mr. President?” He looked over at Trump, played by James Austin Johnson, only to find him sleeping in his seat.

The joke followed a week of multiple instances in which the real Trump seemed to doze off in public. SNL’s Trump talked in his sleep, saying in a flirtatious tone, “Stop Mamdani, you can freeze my rent anytime.” Trump then startled awake, shouting, “I wasn’t sleeping! I’m very much awake, now someone quickly tell me where am I, who am I and what year might it be.” “Good one Mr. President,” said Hegseth nervously. “Everything you do that’s weird is a joke.”

A photo accompanying the segment showed Hegseth laughing during a Cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC on December 2-2025 and another showed Trump leaving after signing a series of bills related to California’s vehicle emissions standards during an event in the East Room on June 12-2025.