Mr. Day then warned Mr. Baldwin that ghosts of Mr. Trump’s past would be visiting him that same night. The first one was the former “Today” show host Billy Bush, played by Alex Moffat. Mr. Bush, who appeared on the “Access Hollywood” tape that emerged near the end of the presidential campaign, was suspended by NBC and ultimately left the network.

“Frankly, I’m looking pretty good in the NBC News division right about now,” Mr. Moffat said, in the night’s first reference to Mr. Lauer. “Remember, Donald, these things catch up with all of us. If you worked at NBC right now you would be fired, fired, fired. And out of money.”

“S.N.L.” has recently found itself in the uncomfortable position of criticizing names close to the show. Aside from being one of NBC’s biggest stars, Mr. Lauer has only slight ties to “S.N.L.” compared with recent targets like the comedian Louis C.K. and Senator Al Franken of Minnesota. After Mr. Moffat departed, Beck Bennett resurrected his impersonation of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, followed by another ghost of Mr. Trump’s past: Hillary Clinton, played once again by Kate McKinnon, and wearing a black robe.

“You, Donald, have given me the greatest gift of all: sexual gratification in the form of your slow demise,” Ms. McKinnon said.

The other digs at Mr. Lauer came later during the “Weekend Update” segment.

“I almost forgot about this week’s batch of predators,” said the co-host Colin Jost, with a picture behind him of Mr. Lauer, the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the radio personality Garrison Keillor. “It’s just a whole new segment of the news now. You’ve just got to read the names every week like Powerball numbers.”