Thanksgiving Day Turkey pardons: Donald and Melania Trump to grant freedom to ‘Waddle’ and ‘Gobble’

Whether it’s fraudulent congressman George Santos, rapper NBA YoungBoy, an actor who participated in the Jan. 6 riots or the co-founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange - there’s been no shortage of colourful characters on the end of Presidential pardons during just over 12 months of the second Trump administration.

So given the executive clemency being granted by US President Donald Trump to more than 1600 people as of August, 2025, the two turkeys eligible for presidential pardons this week - Gobble and Waddle - probably fancy their chances of Thanksgiving Day freedom.

The pair will be pardoned on Tuesday, local time, in a tradition now into its 78th year at the White House in a ceremony involving First Lady Melania Trump.

This year Americans can vote for which of the turkeys will formally take part in the pardon ceremony via a text line vote.

But even with one losing out, it’s been a relatively charmed life for the hefty pair, who were hatched in July and raised in North Carolina.

Gobble weighs in at 23.6kg while Waddle weighs in at 22.7kg and they have both been staying at the Willard InterContinental Hotel since arriving in Washington earlier this week.

Once Mr Trump extends his pardon to the pair, they will return to North Carolina and escape any further dinner plans for the terms of their life on the state university’s department of poultry science, to help students with agricultural education.

Mr Trump has made presidential pardons a feature during the 13 months of his second term so far. Apart from the mass pardon of the January 6 Capitol assault participants - which included Anchorman actor Jay Johnston - the US President has also made headlines for pardoning rapper NBA YoungBoy and crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao.