There’s no shortage of Donald Trump impressions, but one impersonator has delivered a version of the former president on TikTok that’s right up there with Alec Baldwin and James Austin Johnson.
Shared by TikTok user @kaitlynnwing05, the Trump impressionist in question is actually a Chicagoan tour guide by day, and if the hashtags on the video are to be believed, his name is Andy from the touring company, sea dog. At the top of the clip, Andy is seen standing at the front of the tour boat as the passengers take in the urban views.
While passing what is presumably the Trump International Hotel and Tower — located just south of the city’s main business district — Andy can be seen channeling the former president’s mannerisms, from his seemingly permanent frown to his trademark hand gestures.
It’s then that Andy busts out the uncanny impression, filled with all the same linguistic quirks we’ve come to know from Trump. Andy’s delivery is spot on, matching Trump’s distinct tone and cadence as he rattles off facts about the Trump Tower. Whether he’s informing tourists of the building’s height with that staple scowl or pointing his finger as he names the designer, Andy fully inhabits the impression and solidifies his place as a future Saturday Night Live star.
While he could’ve stopped just at sounding like Trump, Andy goes full method with the impersonation by parodying some of Trump’s character traits, like his penchant for bragging. “It’s the second tallest building in the city, 1, 388 feet,” Andy says, “that’s the perfect amount of feet, I chose that number myself.” At the risk of simply becoming Trump himself, Andy later mentions the Burj Khalifa and perfectly impersonates both Trump’s flair for made-up nouns, and his likely reaction if his Trump Tower was compared to the Dubai skyscraper.
“The Burj Khalifa, the tallest, bigliest building in the world,” Andy says, “a little bit taller than mine, not a big deal.” I think I remember a similar discussion involving Trump and the size of *certain* things, so maybe Andy got his inspiration for the size bit from Barack Obama? In any case, Andy succeeds about entertaining and informing, since I had no idea one of Trump’s towers was designed by Adrian Smith, who also designed the Burj Khalifa.
Viewers took to the comments section with all the fanfare of an SNL crowd, relishing in Andy’s near-perfect rendition of the former president. “Someone give this guy a raise,” one user wrote, with another describing the impression as “true performance artistry.” Others commended Andy for “getting the breathing on point,” and questioned why “no one was applauding” by the end of the clip.
“The way he said ‘big-ly-est’ really brought joy to my heart,” another fan quipped. In between all the praise for the Oscar-winning performance, users seemed to take the most joy out of the moments right before Andy began the spiel, when it looked like he “was dialing in” for the impression. “The fact that you can SEE him getting into the character,” one TikToker wrote, with another saying he “really had to channel it though.”
Andy did find one critic who thought his performance was inaccurate, though not in the way you might expect. “Not good,” someone commented, before explaining that the impression was “too coherent” and featured “no rambling.” On second thought, that doesn’t sound like Trump at all.