Alec Bladwin has revealed that he might retire his impersonation of Donald Trump, suggesting that the president might be "satire resistant".
The Hollywood actor's much-lauded impression of the US President on Saturday Night Live has helped the long-running sketch show achieve its highest ratings in years, and has sparked derision from the president himself, but Baldwin thinks it might be nearly time to throw in the towel.
Speaking to the Press Association about how much longer he will keep up the role, Baldwin said: "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.
"We'll be around the corner to the one-year anniversary of the election this fall. I think people will be in a completely different frame of mind.
"We'll see if this is actually the first satire-resistant president."
Trump has previously launched attacks at Baldwin's impersonation on Twitter, saying it "stinks" and that the show is "boring and unfunny". He later took aim at the show for being "totally one-sided" and "biased".
Baldwin admits that his performance as the billionaire businessman-turned-politician is not the most accurate version but said he performs a "caricature of a more malicious Trump".
"I suppose if I spent some time I might be able to refine my impersonation of him," he said. "We're quoting Trump almost verbatim, and therefore we couldn't help but make him a little angry."
Baldwin has shown Trump as being overwhelmed and panicked by the enormity of being the US President and the show hasn't held back on his infamous Twitter habits.
The 58-year-old Hollywood star added that he would have to be paid "an ungodly amount of money" to play Trump in a film or on stage.
"I don't know if I'd want to be Trump for more than a five-minute slug of time on Saturday Night Live," the actor said.
"You'd have to pay me an ungodly amount of money because it would be exhausting. It would be tiresome."
Recently, Baldwin's Trump portrayal has been somewhat upstaged by Melissa McCarthy's explosive impression of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, which blew away audiences not only for her physical transformation but for the uncanny way she captured his manner.
McCarthy parodied the frosty relationship that Spicer has with the press, the secretary’s brash and confrontational manner, his odd phrasing and the circuitousness of his answers to direct questions.
The current season of Saturday Night Live ends on May 20.
