In keeping with a tradition that stretches back several decades, Donald Trump has granted pardons to two Thanksgiving turkeys named Gobble and Waddle.
With a humorous nod to political rivals, the president quipped that he considered naming the turkeys ‘Chuck and Nancy’ after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. However, he noted with a chuckle that he couldn’t possibly pardon those two Democratic figures.
The audience, which included prominent cabinet members like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi, was amused when Trump made a jest about how last year’s pardons were allegedly voided by Joe Biden’s use of an autopen.
Reassuring the crowd, Trump shared that he encountered Blossom and Peach on their way to be slaughtered, decided to intervene, and granted them pardons as well.
Taking a light-hearted jab at Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, Trump remarked that he would resist calling him a ‘fat slob,’ before humorously admitting, “I’d like to lose a few pounds, too.”
With a captive audience, Trump seized the moment to highlight the accomplishments of his second term, specifically emphasizing his tough stance on crime and efforts to curb illegal immigration.
He was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, who wore a leather aviator-style bomber jacket, black turtle neck and a brown herringbone skirt.
Karoline Leavitt and her one-year-old son Nicholas met Waddle in the press briefing room of the White House, prior to the turkey pardoning ceremony, and introduced the alternate turkey to the press.
Gobble was named the National Thanksgiving Turkey who received the pardon at the ceremony with the president, but Waddle also received a pardon, as is tradition.
First Lady Melania Trump looks on as President Donald Trump pardons Gobble, the official National Thanksgiving turkey, during the White House turkey pardon ceremony on November 25, 2025
From left, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend Trump’s turkey pardon
Trump pardons National Thanksgiving Turkey Gobble alongside first lady Melania Trump
Trump said that Gobble and Waddle, named through a poll on the first lady’s X account, wereMAHA-approved by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
‘Despite their size, Secretary Kennedy has formally certified that these are the first-ever MAHA turkeys,’ Trump said to a chorus of chuckles.
Both 50-pound turkeys will retire to the Prestage Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Caroline, where they will receive housing and veterinary care for the rest of their lives.
Gobble and Waddle are both males raised by the National Turkey Federation chairman Ronnie Parker on his farm in Goldsboro, NC. Gobble is 52 pounds and Waddle is 50.
The Turkey pardon has roots stemming back to Abraham Lincoln, but it didn’t become an official executive task until 1989 when George H. W. Bush declared a presidential pardon for the National Thanksgiving Turkey.
First Lady Melania Trump looks on as her husband pardons Gobble
Trump looks at Gobble one of two turkeys to ceremonially pardoned for Thanksgiving in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington
Trump was joined by Melania, who wore a leather aviator-style bomber jacket, black turtle neck and a brown herringbone skirt
Pam Bondi loses it at today’s turkey pardoning alongside Pete Hegseth
Trump and Melania head out for the pardoning ceremony
Bondi chats to Bessent on the south lawn of the White House
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her son Nicholas as Waddle
hite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and her son Niko welcome Waddle, the alternate to the National Thanksgiving turkey, to the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her son Nicholas
