Pool Reports of November 25, 2025

In-town pool report #1 - pool gathering for turkey pardon

Good morning and happy early Thanksgiving from the White House.

Press is gathering for today's main event, the annual Turkey Pardon, which is scheduled to take place in the Rose Garden at noon ET. (The event will stream live on WH socials.)

The press has already made acquaintance with Waddle — one of the two turkeys receiving a presidential pardon — who visited the briefing room earlier this morning.

Yesterday, the White House shared background information on both lucky turkeys, for those interested:

Both 2025 turkeys were raised in North Carolina under the direction of National Turkey Federation Chairman Jay Jandrain and Butterball contract grower Travis Pittman of Nahunta, North Carolina.

Upon arrival in Washington, "Gobble" and "Waddle" were treated to a luxurious stay at The Willard InterContinental Hotel, adjacent to the White House grounds. Following the ceremony, both turkeys will return to North Carolina, where they will live out the rest of their lives under the care of the Prestage Department of Poultry Science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. They will receive dedicated housing, daily care, and veterinary services as they support agriculture education and highlight the importance of America's turkey industry and animal agriculture.

In-town pool report #2 - Rose Garden and pardon ceremony attendees

It is chilly and a light drizzle has begun to fall in the Rose Garden as we await POTUS and the turkey pardon ceremony. "Hallelujah" is playing over the loudspeakers. Chairs are assembled for attendees. 

Among the crowd, pool has spotted VP Vance & the Second Lady (with one of their young children), Treasury Secretary Bessent, Commerce Sec Lutnick, Secretary Hegseth, HUD Sec Turner, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, AG Pam Bondi, Ed Secretary McMahon, FBI director Kash Patel, and Rep Jason Smith, chairman of House Ways and Means Committee. 

(Hat tip to co pooler Phil Wegmann)

In-town pool report #3 - POTUS speaking

POTUS entered the Rose Garden and began speaking at 12:07pm. 

One of the turkeys loudly gobbled as Trump began speaking about the pardon ceremony. "That's a well trained turkey," Trump said. 

Trump name checked attendees - including Sec. State Rubio and Ag Sec. Rollins (who I didn't see initially) 

Event is continuing to be streaming online so please check there for exact quotes and additional comments.

In-town pool report #4 - POTUS pardons turkeys

Trump spoke on a number of topics for about 17 minutes — interrupted by the occasional gobble, as well as what sounded like heavy machinery noise from the East Wing side of campus — and then walked over to pardon Gobble the turkey, who was being handled by the National Turkey Federation's chairman Jay Jandrain, also the CEO of Butterball. 

Standing proudly on a platform, Gobble gobbled as Trump issued his "unconditional pardon" to the bird. It prompted the president to briefly try out a turkey call himself. 

After posing for pictures, POTUS and FLOTUS returned inside the West Wing at 12:26.

In-town pool report #5 - lunch lid

The White House has called a lunch lid until 2pm.

In-town pool report #6 - gathering for departure

Press is gathering at briefing room doors before heading to the South Lawn for Marine One departure. 

With the rain tapering off, we have a good weather call for the President's scheduled liftoff to Joint Base Andrews. From there, he will travel to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In-town pool report #7 - POTUS departed, no questions

POTUS and FLOTUS emerged from the South Portico at 6:04pm. He opened his umbrella in the rain and waited for FLOTUS to join. They both walked under their umbrella toward Marine One — POTUS ignored shouted questions as he waved and pumped his fist toward the press. 

Marine One is wheels up for JBA as of 6:09.

Out of town pool report #1: JBA and travelers

Good evening from Joint Base Andrews. President Trump landed in Marine One here at 6:19 p.m. under a steady rain.

The president, accompanied by the First Lady and holding a black umbrella, did not stop to take questions from reporters before boarding Air Force One, which he did at 6:24 p.m.

List of travelers on Air Force One, per the White House:
First Lady Melania Trump
Steven Cheung
Robert Gabriel
Peter Navarro
Will Scharf
Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche
Walt Nauta
Natalie Harp

Out of town pool report #2: Wheels up

Air Force One was wheels up from JBA at 6:34 p.m.

Out of town travel pool report #3: In-flight gaggle

President Trump came back to gaggle with reporters shortly after takeoff. He took questions for just under 11 minutes on the war in Ukraine, his health care ideas, Venezuela and other topics. 

Quotes below, please check against transcript/audio, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/live/2K8V3xqC9Gc

Latest on Russia-Ukraine talks:

On possible Zelensky visit, POTUS said, "He would like to come, but I think we should get a deal done first."

"We're having good talks…We won't know for a little while, but we're making progress."

"We've settled eight wars. And I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin. But this is probably one of the more difficult ones because there's a lot of hatred."

Q: Remaining sticking points?

"Standard things. People are starting to realize it's a good deal for both parties and they've got to stop the war. They're losing a lot of people."

He called the 28-point plan "an original proposal. And then from there we went back and forth."

"They're talking about going land both ways…you can't go through the middle of a highway so they're trying to work out because it's a complicated process."

Asked about security guarantees, he said, "We're working that out with Europe."

Asked about the original 28-point plan, which drew criticism from some Republicans, the president said it was "just a concept."

Q: Does Thanksgiving deadline no longer stand?

"We'll see what happens. They set up a date. The date is going to be sometime in the very near future. I don't have a deadline. The only deadline for me is when it's over. And I think everybody is tired of fighting at this point."

Asked about Bloomberg report on Steve Witkoff's conversations with a Russian official:

"I haven't heard it, but it's a standard thing. Because he's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's got to sell Ukraine. That's what a dealmaker does. You've got to say look, they want this, you've got to convince them of this. You know, that's a very standard form of negotiation. I haven't heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation. And I would imagine he's saying the same thing to Ukraine. Because each party has to give and take."

Q: So you're not worried that he's too pro-Russian?

"Look, this war could go on for years, and Russia's got a lot more people. A lot more soldiers. So I think if Ukraine can make a deal it's a good thing. I think it's great for both… Ukraine's got a much smaller group of people. They've lost a lot of people. Russia's lost a lot of people. But Russia has a much bigger pool of people."

Are you planning to unveil a health care plan any time soon?

"I like my plan the best. Don't give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly. Let them buy their own health care plan. And we're looking at that. If that can work. We're looking at that. That's sort of taking off. That's what I like. Don't' give the money to the insurance companies. They go out and buy their own plan. Give the money to the people. That's what I like."

Q: Are you planning to extend those ACA subsidies?

"I'd rather not. Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don't want to extend them for two years. I'd rather not extend them at all. Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster."

"The premiums are going up, and it's the Democrats' fault. But, you know, they are negotiating with me. It's very interesting."

Q: Who are you talking to?

A: "I can't tell you who, but we have a lot of Democrats want this plan to happen. They would love to see the money go to the people and the people go out and get their own health care."

Are you planning to replace Kash Patel?

"No...Kash Patel? He's doing a great job I think."

Still have faith in Lindsey Halligan?

"She's great. I think she's great. He got out on a technicality and we'll see what happens from here on. But you look at the actual charges, I think anybody that looks at it very fairly would say, 'Boy are they guilty.'"

"The court didn't say you couldn't bring the case. Rebring the case or appeal the case. So they have a lot of options. They're going to call the shot, I'm not calling that shot. Lindsey is a very talented lawyer."

Are you planning to talk to Maduro?

"I might talk to him. We'll see. But we're discussing that with the different staffs. We might talk."

Q: You just labeled a group Marudo leads as a foreign terrorist organization, why do you want to talk to him if he's the leader?

"If we can save lives, we can do things the easy way, that's fine. And if we have to do it the hard way that's fine, too... I'm not going to tell you what the goal is. You should probably know what the goal is. But, they've caused a lot of problems. And they've sent millions of people into our country."

Reaction to Bowser not seeking reelection?

"Well, I got along with her very well. I liked her. We worked together. D.C. is now a safe community. You people know it better than I do because you live here. But D.C. is now safe. The restaurants are booming. The place is booming. We have no crime. And we did that all in a period of three or four weeks and then made it better and better and better. And now we're setting new records."

"We're doing really well in Memphis, Tennessee, and we're doing well in other places. The one that's really troubling is what's happening in Chicago. The crime – it's a potentially great city again, but the governor has totally lost control. That's why you have the young lady burned. That's why you had a lot of killings over the last very short period of time. Killings. The governor has totally lost control of the state, and the mayor is grossly incompetent.

Call with the Japanese prime minister:

"I had a great talk. I have a very good relationship with her. I also had a very good talk with President Xi of China. And I think that part of the world is doing fine."
Contents of the call was "mostly trade," POTUS said.

"I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the actions of President Xi. I have a great relationship with him. I like him, he likes me…With Japan, likewise. I just came back from Japan, and we have a great relationship, the new prime minister and myself. She's very smart, she's very strong, and she's going to be a great leader."

Out of town pool report #4: Wheels down Palm Beach

Air Force One was wheels down in Palm Beach at 8:22 p.m.

Out of town pool report #5: Motorcade rolling

President Trump and the First Lady deplaned at 8:38 p.m. POTUS waved at the pool and climbed into the presidential limousine without coming over to talk.

Motorcade is rolling from the Palm Beach airport at 8:40 p.m.