Biden holds Thanksgiving calls with members of US military

President Biden held Thanksgiving calls with members of the U.S. military, according to the White House. 

Biden, alongside his wife, first lady Jill Biden, spoke with units from each branch of the U.S. military stationed around the world. They thanked the armed forces and their family members for their service. 

The commander in chief talked with soldiers in the Guam National Guard, members of the Marine Corps and the crew of USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. He also spoke with the Air Force’s 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, U.S. Space Force service members in Cyprus and the Coast Guard’s crew on Charles Moulthrope, a cutter stationed in Bahrain. 

Biden expressed gratitude to his supporters on Thursday in his final Thanksgiving message as president. 

“With hearts full of gratitude: Happy Thanksgiving, America,” Biden wrote Thursday on the social platform X. “Jill and I are so grateful for the trust you’ve placed in us these past four years — serving you has been the honor of our lives.”

The holiday season at the White House kicked off with the annual turkey pardoning ceremony, with Biden pardoning turkeys Peach and Blossom on Monday. 

“This event marks the official start of the holiday season here is Washington. It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during this season and give thanks and gratitude,” Biden said. “So let me say to you — it’s been the honor of my life, I am forever thankful.”

During his visit to a fire department in Nantucket, Mass., on Thursday, the commander in chief said he was also grateful for a “peaceful transition” of power, expressing gratitude to “my family, the peaceful transition of the presidency, and I’m thankful by the grace of God we were able to make more progress in the Middle East, I’m really thankful for being able to get the first peace done in Lebanon.”