"Self-slashing tires" — Saturday Night Live's Mike Myers as Elon Musk introduces "self-vandalizing" Teslas during Cold Open

Saturday Night Live season 50 aired a new episode on April 5, 2025, featuring The Cold Open, an encore representation of President Donald Trump's "historically awesome speech," regarding the tariff announcements. During the speech, enacted by James Austen Johnson, Mike Myers appeared as billionaire and government employee, Elon Musk, introducing a new Tesla model.

In light of the widespread protests at Tesla dealerships and reports of people damaging their Teslas, Mike mimicking Elon said:

"Which is why we're introducing the new Tesla Model-V, the first electric car in history to be fully self-vandalizing with features like self-smashing headlights, self-slashing tires, and AI-powered graffiti."

However, before the Saturday Night Live star concluded, he said that he was "really smart" and added that Trump's tariffs sounded "really dumb." Earlier during the speech, Mike appeared on stage, briefly wearing a cheese hat, a reference to the time he wore the same during his failed attempt to "buy the election" in Wisconsin.

"I'm an idiot. I should have just bought Wisconsin. Glitch!" he said.

---

What else happened during the Cold Open on Saturday Night Live?

James Austen, as President Trump, started his speech on tariffs, saying it was short for "terrific idea." Calling it the "backbone" of his plan for the economy, James said that his goal was to "make America wealthy again." He continued, stating that he wanted to "Make America Depression Again," before making it wealthy.

The Saturday Night Live star then assured the viewers that the stock market crash was part of his plan. He explained that after market crash, the only way would be up, or perhaps, even "further down." He then presented a chart resembling the real one the President used on April 2, during the tariff announcement.

"We spent so much time and frankly, millions of dollars on this piece of cardboard. And we listed the countries in an order that's neither alphabetical nor numerical for maximum confusion," the star said.

Soon after, Saturday Night Live alum Mike Myers appeared on stage while James Austen talked about South Africa not sending the States "one good thing." Mike, wearing a cheese hat, hopped next to James and asked, "What about me?"

While the audience applauded, Mike explained that he wore the hat to recall when he tried to "buy the election" in Wisconsin. Afterward, he suddenly started to move erratically, saying, "Glitch," before swirling around, yelling," Pinwheel! Pinwheel! Pinwheel! Pinwheel!"

James, disguised as Trump, tried to remove Mike from the stage, saying it was time "never" to see him again and reminding him that he needed to return to Tesla because things were "doing pretty bad."

Upon hearing that, the Saturday Night Live star stated:

"Yes. Uh, recently our dealerships have been the target of many attacks, and suddenly no one likes Tesla cars. So I asked myself, 'Why?' And then I answered myself, 'Because of me.'"

Consequently, Mike announced the introduction of a new version of Tesla cars, which would be "fully self-vandalizing." While he continued to detail the features of the new version of the automobile, James Austen cut him off, saying, "Good luck on Mars!"

The appearance during the Cold Open marked Mike's third Saturday Night Live season 50 cameo, enacting Elon Musk. During the March 9 Cold Open, Mike's second appearance, he channeled Dr. Evil as he put his pinkie finger up to his mouth and wondered if taking the federal position was a "bad idea" because it decreased his net worth by "$100 billion."

---

Saturday Night Live is available to stream on Peacock.