Trump pardons Thanksgiving turkeys with digs at Biden, Schumer and Pelosi

WASHINGTON — Gobble and Waddle are free.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned the North Carolina-bred turkeys that he said he wanted to name “Chuck and Nancy,” a holiday season dig at two longtime Democratic foes: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi of California.

“But then I realized I wouldn’t be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people,” he said under a gray sky, adding of first lady Melania Trump: “I wouldn’t care what Melania told me. ‘Darling, I think it would be a nice thing to do.’ I won’t do it.”

Curiously, Waddle was not present at the Rose Garden ceremony. White House aides played along to a reporter’s joking questions, saying only that Waddle needed to sit out the Rose Garden event after a memorable appearance in the White House briefing room about 90 minutes earlier. Left as the star of the pardoning show, Gobble let out a noise that sounded like his name as Trump opened the event by calling it a “time-honored American tradition.”

Trump quipped as noise from his ballroom construction banged, clunked and grinded in the distance: “That’s a well-trained turkey. See how happy he is.”

He said his act for Gobble and Waddle would be “a full absolute and unconditional presidential pardon to two handsome Thanksgiving turkeys, and this is their lucky day.”

Trump opted against keeping the event lighthearted. He again argued former President Joe Biden’s alleged use of an “auto pen” to sign pardons meant those actions were legally irrelevant, joking that he had re-pardoned last year’s Biden-freed birds, Peach and Blossom. Among the other topics he touched on: illegal immigration; a “terrorist confinement center in El Salvador” he sounded quite fond of; crime in Memphis and Chicago; and indirectly referring to Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker as a “fat slob.”

In a rare moment of public self-assessment, after the invited guests laughed at his Pritzker dig, Trump said: “I’d like to lose a few pounds, too, by the way. And I’m not going to lose it on Thanksgiving, I can tell you that, because I’m going to have a turkey.”

As always, he used public remarks to argue that prices have come down across the board.

“It’s a great time of the year, and our country is doing really well economically, like we’ve never done before,” he said. “And this Thanksgiving, we’re also making incredible strides to make America affordable again.”

Trump verbally gave the double-pardon order in the renovated Rose Garden on a chilly autumn day in Washington, amid worries about the economy and cost of this year’s Thanksgiving feast and travel. A White House-conducted poll showed respondents chose the names Gobble and Waddle.

The president, in what likely is the silliest thing any president does all year, issued them legal immunity as a majority of Americans (57.8%) disapproved of his handling of the economy, according to a RealClearPolitics average of 10 recent polls. The same average found 39.5% approved.

Several senior White House officials in recent days have sought to send a message to voters: the Trump team has heard their affordability worries — but a specific administration plan to address those concerns has yet to emerge.

“After inheriting the worst inflation crisis in 40 years from Joe Biden and Democrats, the Trump Administration’s actions to unleash American energy, slash regulations, and crush inflation are translating into lower gas prices in many states and a decrease in the cost of Thanksgiving dinner,” the White House said in a Monday statement.

“Make no mistake: this is not ‘mission accomplished.’ Americans are still paying far too much after four years of reckless Democrat spending and regulation — and that’s why the Trump Administration is relentlessly fighting to deliver the bold, structural changes that will bring lasting relief to all American families,” the White House added.

Trump heads into Thanksgiving stubbornly holding onto his public insistence that prices of everyday items and services are “way down,” as he has claimed for weeks, across the board. That is belied by the most recent government price data, which show a more complicated picture for American households — with grocery staples and holiday travel more expensive than this time last year.

‘Mixed bag’

Data analyzed by the American Farm Bureau Federation showed the cost of a classic Thanksgiving dinner this year will be a “mixed bag of savings and squeezes.”

“A table of classic dishes for 10 people will cost $55.18, down 5% from last year, but still higher than four years ago. Prices of several of the items reflect some of the struggles of farm and ranch families working to stock the grocery store shelves,” economists Faith Parum and Samantha Ayoub noted in a Nov. 19 market assessment for the Farm Bureau.

“Four of the items dropped in price this year – the main turkey dish, cubed stuffing, fresh cranberries and dinner rolls,” the duo wrote. “However, five items — sweet potatoes, frozen green peas, a vegetable tray of carrots and celery, whole milk and whipping cream — rose in price. Pumpkin pie mix and pie shells remained virtually unchanged from 2024.”

Egg prices, which spiked following the avian flu outbreak, have retreated sharply from their peak — but remain volatile, according to the most recent pricing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the costs of fruits and vegetables have climbed 1.3% over the last 12 months.

For those opting for turkey and trimmings at a local eatery, rather than spending several days preparing their own feast, prices of food away from home are 3.7% higher than one year ago, according to the BLS.

Beyond the dinner table, household energy costs continue to squeeze budgets. Home heating sources — especially fuel oil (up 4.1%), electricity (up 5.1%) and piped natural gas (up 11.7%) — cost more than a year ago, according to the BLS. Trump is correct in his assertion that gasoline prices are down from 12 months ago, but the 0.5% drop does not come close to offsetting other energy price increases.

Travel costs also diverge from the president’s recent upbeat rhetoric. BLS data shows airfares higher (up 3.2%) than last year.

Economic data shows the White House has been correct that inflation has cooled significantly from 2022 highs. But that slowdown has not triggered a rollback of prices in many key categories.

With Gobble and Waddle now free birds, Trump is slated to depart the White House around 6 p.m. for his Florida home, where he is scheduled to remain until Sunday evening. The five-day break will be among the longest of his second term. The president in August personally canceled a planned golf vacation at his New Jersey club, several White House aides said at that time.

But as Trump, who is slated to speak to U.S. military personnel on Thanksgiving evening, heads to Mar-a-Lago, one Senate Democrat said he has done too little to bring down the cost of American life.

“As American families struggle to put food on the table this Thanksgiving, the Trump administration is spending billions on ballrooms, private jets, and foreign bailouts,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a Monday statement. “While New Yorkers face soaring prices, this administration has slashed support for working families and imposed reckless tariffs that are driving up the cost of everything from groceries to household essentials.”