How many times has Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live?

Donald Trump and Saturday Night Live have developed an odd relationship over the last decade. They appear to be diametrically opposed, with SNL repeatedly taking shots at Trump and his antics as President. The show has benefited immensely from its Trump satire, though, with Alec Baldwin's portrayal being one of the most memorable SNL bits of the late 2010s and early 2020s.

The notion of the real Trump appearing on Saturday Night Live seems like an impossibility today, but there was a time when the millionaire was actually a repeat host. That's right, Donald Trump, the most polarizing figure in current American politics, has hosted SNL twice. He took on hosting duties for the first time in 2004, and then again in 2015.

Trump hosted SNL for the first time in 2004

Trump's 2004 appearance came after years of being impersonated on the show by the likes of Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond. The future politician appeared in multiple sketches, and introduced the musical guest, the legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals.

2015 was a more interesting appearance from a historical standpoint. Donald Trump was only a year away from becoming the President of the United States, yet still maintained the outsized persona he had developed on reality shows like The Apprentice.

Trump not only introduced musical guest Sia, but he participated in a parody music video of the Drake song "Hotline Bling." In one of the stranger pop culture moments of the decade looking back, Jay Pharaoh sings the pop-rap smash while Trump dances alongside cast members Taran Killam, Bobby Moynahan and Beck Bennett. Different times, for seemingly everyone involved.

SNL stars were unhappy with Trump's 2015 episode

Despite SNL's constant satirization of Trump, Killam told Associated Press that the cast was told not to outright vilify the President. “He’s like any New York taxi driver," he recalls SNL boss Lorne Michaels saying. "He just says whatever it is he’s thinking, and that’s his thing. You have to find a way in that makes him likable."

Several cast members, Killam included, have voiced their frustration for having appeared alongside Trump during his 2015 SNL appearance. Killam, in particular, called the episode "shameful." It remains to be seen whether Trump will ever get a chance to be on the show again.