The annual White House tradition continued Tuesday as President Trump officially pardoned Gobble and Waddle, two impressively sized turkeys weighing in at 50 and 52 pounds respectively. This seemingly lighthearted event, however, is steeped in decades of history, evolving from a simple presentation of a Thanksgiving turkey to a formal act of clemency.
The practice began in the 1940s when the National Turkey Federation gifted a live turkey to the President each Thanksgiving. It wasn’t initially about sparing the bird’s life, but rather acknowledging the importance of the poultry industry. The seeds of the pardon were subtly sown with President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
While Kennedy didn’t use the word “pardon,” his comment about letting the turkey “grow” sparked the idea. A Los Angeles Times headline famously declared a “presidential pardon,” and the concept began to take root in the public imagination. President Ronald Reagan playfully alluded to a pardon in 1987, further solidifying the burgeoning tradition.
It was George H.W. Bush who truly formalized the annual Turkey Pardoning. He explicitly used the word “pardon” in 1989, declaring that the chosen turkey would avoid the dinner table and instead enjoy a peaceful retirement on a children’s farm. This act cemented the ceremony as a beloved White House custom.
This year’s pardoned pair, Gobble and Waddle, made a journey from North Carolina to Washington D.C., briefly residing at the Willard InterContinental Hotel before their moment in the Rose Garden. Their future now lies at North Carolina State University’s Prestage Department of Poultry Science, a far cry from a Thanksgiving feast.
The ceremony wasn’t without a touch of political commentary. President Trump used the occasion to address a perceived slight, claiming that former President Biden had used an autopen to pardon turkeys in 2024, rendering those pardons “totally invalid.”
In a surprising turn, Trump declared he was also pardoning the 2024 turkeys, stating he “saved them in the nick of time.” This unexpected addition injected a unique element into the longstanding tradition, reminding everyone that even a turkey pardon can be a platform for presidential remarks.
