On Tuesday, Nov. 25, President Donald Trump carried out the annual White House Thanksgiving tradition of pardoning two turkeys. Kicking off the holiday season, Trump took to the podium and addressed the citizens. But in no time, the festive spirit shifted into a political showcase.
Trump, as usual, took the opportunity to criticize the previous administration while flaunting the work he has done in the last 11 months.
However, things took a bizarre turn when he joked about deportation. In an attempt to praise his administration, Trump joked that his staffers were planning to deport the turkeys to El Salvador’s mega-prison.
Trump said, “But instead of a pardon, some of my more enthusiastic staffers were already drafting the paperwork to ship Gobble and Waddle straight to the terrorist confinement center in El Salvador. And even those birds don’t want to be there. You know what I mean?”
“It was a tough… I’d like to thank the president of that country. They do a rather efficient job. It’s going to be the largest prison in history. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he added, praising the controversial prison, where the deportees are held and are reportedly treated like criminals.
President Trump says his staff was drafting documents to ship Gobble and Waddle to CECOT, instead of pardoning them for Thanksgiving. 🦃😂
He also thanked President @nayibbukele of El Salvador 🇸🇻 for his remarkable results in reducing crime.
— Herbert Esmahan (@HerbertEsmahan) November 25, 2025
Trump pardoned two turkeys, named Gobble and Waddle. During the pardoning ceremony, he said, “And now let’s go and give Gobble, Waddle, and Waddle, by the way, is missing in action. But that’s okay. We’ll pretend they’re here. The gift that they’ve been waiting for and I’ll move over. And I will just say very nicely. Gobble you’re pardoned.”
Trump then went on to describe Gobble as a “very violent bird.”
.@POTUS: “Gobble, I just want to tell you this — very important — you are hereby unconditionally pardoned!”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) November 25, 2025
During his speech, the 79-year-old president boasted about safer cities, lower prices, and better international relations since he returned to office. He claimed that in less than one year, “his administration accomplished more than other administrations have accomplished in eight years.”
Trump also pardoned last year’s turkeys, which were already pardoned by Joe Biden. Trump claimed that Biden’s use of an autopen invalidated their pardons.
“The turkeys known as Peach and Blossom last year have been located, and they were on their way to be processed—in other words, to be killed. But I have stopped that journey, and I am officially pardoning them. And they will not be served for Thanksgiving dinner. We saved them in the nick of time,” he said.
The MAGA crowd joined Trump to take a dig at Biden’s use of the autopen and his “unconditional pardon” of his son, Hunter Biden, in the final minutes of his presidency. An X user wrote, “Gobble was relieved that his pardon wasn’t done by President AutoPen.”
No auto pen was used in this pardon. ❤️
— Country mouse (@ChristineGEE17) November 25, 2025
“Did the turkeys have to pay $2,000,000 for the pardon?” wrote another. Someone tweeted, “Please don’t pardon the other turkeys Leticia and Comey.”
Please dont pardon the other turkeys Leticia and Comey
— Randy Vander Tuig47 (@poppathug12) November 25, 2025
Unlike many immigrants who are separated from their babies and families, Gobble and Waddle were lucky enough not to be deported and treated like criminals. Instead, they’ll spend the rest of their lives on the campus of NC State.
