President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participated in a turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House Tuesday before departing for Florida, where they will spend the Thanksgiving holiday.
“On behalf of the first lady and the entire Trump family, I want to wish all Americans a very, very happy Thanksgiving,” Trump said. “It’s a great time of the year, and our country is doing really well economically, like we’ve never done before.”
The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is an annual ceremony in which the president is presented with a live domestic turkey by the National Turkey Federation. It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1940s, though the turkeys were generally slaughtered and eaten after the ceremony. In the ’70s, it became standard to save the turkey, and former President George H.W. Bush began the act of issuing a ceremonial pardon to the turkey.
This year’s turkeys are from North Carolina. The first lady’s office asked Americans to vote on the names of the turkeys. Several options were drafted by students in North Carolina. The public ultimately chose Gobble and Waddle as their top choices.
Americans then were faced with the choice of which turkey they wanted the president to pardon. They chose Gobble.
Trump delivered remarks about the pardon and got a few jabs in about former President Joe Biden. Trump has maintained that Biden allegedly used the autopen to sign executive actions, including the various pardons Biden issued before leaving office.
“He used an autopen last year for the turkey’s pardon, so I have the official duty to determine, and I have determined, that last year’s turkey pardons are totally invalid, as are the pardons of about every other person that was pardoned, other than … where’s Hunter?” Trump said of Biden’s pardon for his son. “No, Hunter’s was good. That was the one pardon that was good. The rest of them are all invalid.”
Trump’s statement was inaccurate, as Biden did not use the autopen to pardon turkeys in 2024 and did participate in the tradition last year.
Trump claimed he was able to track down last year’s pardoned turkeys, Peach and Blossom, and is going to re-pardon them and “save them” from being processed.
He noted that this Thanksgiving, his administration is “making incredible strides to make America affordable again.”
The economy and affordability are issues important to Trump, who promised on the campaign trail that he’d bring down prices for Americans. Eleven months into his second term, the public has lost confidence in the economy as inflation hangs around.
Trump has also consistently touted that Walmart’s Thanksgiving meal basket is “25% lower than just one year ago.” He says it’s a “big deal,” but The Associated Press noted that the meal basket is cheaper partially because Walmart included different items and fewer products overall this year.
However, the American Farm Bureau Federation announced that the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal this year had moderately declined from 2024. For a classic Thanksgiving meal for 10 people, prices came out to $55.18.
“This is a very special Thanksgiving. We thank God for his many blessings and the great success that this country has seen in the short period of time. We draw strength from the love of family and friends, and we express our undying gratitude for the men and the women of the United States Armed Forces,” Trump said.
“Once again, Melania, thank you for doing such a great job and being such a great first lady,” he continued. “And now, let’s go and give Gobble, Waddle — Waddle, by the way, is missing in action, but that’s okay. We’ll pretend Waddle is here — the gift that they’ve been waiting for.”
“I will just say, very nicely, Gobble, you’re pardoned.”
