President Trump Pardons Gobble and Waddle, Nullifying 2024 Biden Decrees

On Tuesday, November 25, 2025, the traditional White House ceremony took place in Washington, D.C., where incumbent President Donald Trump granted pardons to two turkeys named Gobble and Waddle. The event unfolded in the Rose Garden, attended by First Lady Melania Trump, continuing a tradition formally established in 1989.

Both fowl, Gobble weighing in at 52 pounds and Waddle at 50 pounds, were raised in North Carolina by Butterball’s contract farmer, Travis Pittman. President Trump, while bestowing the birds with a full and unconditional pardon, utilized the platform to discuss economic performance. He specifically asserted that the pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in 2024 for turkeys named Peach and Flower were now deemed “absolutely invalid,” and he proceeded to officially forgive these two new recipients.

The roots of this custom trace back to 1947 when President Harry Truman first accepted a turkey as a gift from poultry industry representatives. The formal act of presidential pardon, however, was instituted by George H.W. Bush in 1989. During his address, Donald Trump focused heavily on macroeconomic indicators, claiming that the cost of a Thanksgiving turkey had dropped by 33% compared to the “peak of the Biden era,” which he presented as evidence of an improving financial landscape. The President also quipped that he had considered naming the turkeys after Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, but noted that he would have been unable to pardon them had he done so.

The names Gobble and Waddle were ultimately selected through a public voting process. Following the conclusion of the Washington ceremony, the turkeys are scheduled to retire to North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh, where they will be housed by the Prestage Department of Poultry Science. This marks the second occasion that NC State has provided sanctuary for pardoned turkeys, as the university also sheltered the birds pardoned in 2022. This year’s event, marking the 78th iteration of the ritual, underscores how deeply ingrained this custom is within American political culture. The turkeys, transported to the capital via train from North Carolina, had been residing at the Willard InterContinental hotel prior to the formal proceedings.

Thanksgiving Day in 2025 falls on November 27th. The ritual serves as both a tribute to the agricultural sector and an opportunity for the President to deliver a message of gratitude to the nation.