Donald Trump Shades Chuck Schumer & Nancy Pelosi While Pardoning Turkeys

Donald Trump never misses an opportunity to talk smack about his political rivals ... he went after Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi while pardoning a pair of turkeys at the White House Tuesday.

The president was addressing the crowd at the event when he took shots at the Democrats. He said he was thinking about renaming the turkeys -- Gobble and Waddle -- "Chuck and Nancy" instead.

He chuckled and said he changed his mind after realizing he would never pardon either one of his political foes.

Trump said he wouldn't budge on the pardons, even if wife Melania asked him.

The birds were put up in a luxury suite at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C., prior to the event ... they're set to be sent off to North Carolina State University, where they'll spend the rest of their lives, according to WFMY-TV in Greensboro, NC.

FYI ... pardoning a turkey's been a tradition at the White House dating back to at least Harry Truman's administration, though there are tales Abe Lincoln actually started the act of avian clemency at the request of his son. It became an official annual event with George H.W. Bush's administration in 1989.