Thanksgiving at the White House is usually a lighthearted affair, but this year’s turkey pardon ceremony took a sharp political turn as President Donald Trump mixed tradition with a barrage of pointed attacks, executive declarations, and controversial remarks. The annual ritual, held on November 27, 2025, saw Trump pardon two turkeys named Gobble and Waddle, sparing them from what he jokingly described as a fate worse than the dinner table: deportation to the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in El Salvador.
Standing in the Rose Garden, Trump quipped, “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 tough. I’d like to thank the president of that country. They do a rather efficient job,” as reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The spared turkeys, raised on Travis and Amanda Pittman’s farm in Wayne County, North Carolina, will now live out their days at North Carolina State University, Fox 10 News confirmed.
But the jokes soon gave way to political barbs. According to The American Bazaar, Trump took the opportunity to roast his Democratic rivals, revealing he’d considered naming the turkeys after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “I would never pardon those people,” Trump declared, dismissing First Lady Melania Trump’s plea to be nice. He went on to question the legitimacy of last year’s turkey pardons issued by “sleepy Joe Biden,” claiming they were invalid because Biden used an autopen—a mechanical signature device commonly employed by presidents, including Trump himself in the past. “Where’s Hunter?” he asked, suggesting Biden’s son could again be in legal trouble.
The president’s criticism didn’t stop there. On Black Friday, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he was canceling “all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden.” He claimed, “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect.” Trump alleged, “The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him,” by signing his name using the autopen. He warned, “Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury.”
It remained unclear how Trump would actually nullify Biden’s pardons and executive orders, but the rhetoric underscored his willingness to flex executive muscle. The New York Times observed that Trump “has other options for pursuing and penalizing those he perceives to have crossed or undermined him,” suggesting a broader strategy at play.
Meanwhile, Trump notched a significant legal victory. A Georgia judge dismissed the last pending criminal prosecution against him related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, effectively ending attempts to hold him criminally responsible. The Georgia case had been seen as one of the most serious legal threats, since state-level convictions are not subject to presidential pardons. Trump wasted no time celebrating, calling the dismissal “this Illegal, Unconstitutional, and unAmerican Hoax… at the direction of Crooked Joe Biden and his ‘Handlers,’ in their obsession with doing anything and everything to ‘GET TRUMP.’” He accused Democrats of “weaponizing our Law Enforcement and Justice System against HONEST AND LOVING Americans.”
Even as Trump railed against his political adversaries, he continued to target the media. According to The American Bazaar, he lambasted The New York Times for reporting “signs of fatigue in Trump's trademark stamina,” branding the paper a “cheap RAG” and “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.” He singled out reporter Katie Rogers, calling her “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out,” continuing a pattern of personal attacks on female journalists. Later, when questioned about an Afghan man suspected of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House, Trump lashed out at another reporter, saying, “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came in on a plane, along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions, because you’re a stupid person.” The White House’s official RapidResponse 47 account posted the exchange on social media, dismissing criticism as “FAKE NEWS.”
The shooting incident, which occurred on Thanksgiving Day, claimed the life of one West Virginia National Guard member and left another wounded. The suspected gunman, a 29-year-old Afghan national, reportedly fought for a CIA-backed paramilitary unit during the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, as reported by CNN. Trump blamed the Biden administration for allowing the man’s entry into the country, despite the fact that he was granted asylum by Trump’s own administration in April 2025 after what officials described as “thorough vetting.”
In response to the shooting, Trump ordered a reexamination of all green cards issued to people from 19 countries listed in a June presidential proclamation and announced a permanent pause on migration from all Third World countries. “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the U.S. system to fully recover,” Trump thundered on Truth Social, adding, “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.” He also reposted images from supporters depicting himself as a warrior against the “Deep State,” including one showing him as a king in full armor with the warning: “NONE shall escape his justice!”
But not all Republicans were on board with Trump’s tone. On CNN’s The Arena, Republican strategist Melik Abdul expressed disbelief at Trump’s Thanksgiving Day social media posts, particularly his attacks on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar. Trump had called Walz “seriously retarded” and mocked Omar, a Somali immigrant, for being “always wrapped in her swaddling hijab.” Abdul told host Manu Raju, “No, and I never do,” when asked if he could defend the language. “So, I was one of those who said when I saw it yesterday, I was like, ‘Oh, bro, you gotta be kidding me now,’ because he said something, I think it was ‘swaddling.’ She was in a s’waddling hijab.’ Like, you’re using the image that we usually associate with Christmas and Christ and Jesus. And you’re saying that as a swaddling hijab.” Abdul warned that such remarks harm downballot Republicans, raising questions about the broader impact on the party’s future.
Meanwhile, the fallout from Trump’s immigration crackdown continued to ripple. The Daily Caller News Foundation reported that illegal immigrants deported to El Salvador include Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a suspected MS-13 gang member accused of human smuggling and domestic violence. Garcia, initially deported due to an error but retained for his criminal record, later returned to the U.S. and now faces federal human smuggling charges. Democratic lawmakers, including Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, traveled to El Salvador in April to protest Garcia’s deportation, while El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Trump that he would not “smuggle” Garcia back into the U.S.
From pardoning turkeys to fiery declarations and personal insults, Trump’s Thanksgiving week underscored the deeply polarized and performative nature of American politics in 2025. The spectacle, complete with barnyard humor and hardline immigration policies, offered a vivid snapshot of a presidency unafraid to mix tradition with controversy—even as the nation watched, turkey leg in hand.
