Overview
- At the Nov. 25 White House event, Trump granted full, unconditional pardons to Gobble and Waddle in the Rose Garden.
- Only Gobble appeared during the ceremony, while Waddle was shown earlier in the White House briefing room with the press secretary.
- Trump used the ritual to deliver partisan lines, joking he considered naming the birds “Chuck and Nancy” and insulting Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.
- He claimed last year’s pardons were invalid due to an autopen and said he re‑pardoned Peach and Blossom, a contention reported as disputed and without substantiating evidence.
- Raised in North Carolina and weighing about 52 and 50 pounds, the turkeys were named through an Office of the First Lady poll, stayed at the Willard hotel, and will live at NC State’s Prestage Department of Poultry Science.