‘Not because it portrayed him as heartless’: Trump vainly rejected a SNL sketch for the most conceited reason

Remember when Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live and we all questioned why it was happening? Well, it seems like working with Trump wasn’t a piece of cake either. At least according to Lorne Michaels.

The famed creator and producer of Saturday Night Live opened up about the Trump episode and revealed the reason behind Trump cutting a sketch. One was written that included Trump as a tree standing next to the Giving Tree. You know, the Shel Silverstein book where the tree gives everything she has to a young man? And that same tree gives so much that she ends up just being a stump?

Well, according to a new profile in The New Yorker on Michaels, the show was doing a sketch about the Giving Tree with Donald Trump. The premise was simply: The Giving Tree gives everything as she does and a nearby tree, played by Trump, calls her a sucker for doing it. It is both a negative reflection on Trump as a person as well as a funny commentary for people who misunderstand the Silverstein story.

So you might be wondering why the the sketch was cut. Logically, it would make sense if the man running for president at the time didn’t want to seem like he didn’t CARE about helping people. But, according to Michaels, the real reason that the sketch was cut was because Trump is an incredibly vain man.

Michaels said that it wasn’t cut because it made him look bad on an optics level but rather because Trump was worried his tree costumed made him look fat. Yes, the orange man with the bad hair and weird high waisted pants was worried about his body image on the show. And now, you know, calling the Giving Tree a “sucker” for helping a young boy.

The reason behind Trump not wanting to do the sketch is…well…telling.