Trump Turkey Pardon 2017: Everything To Know About White House Thanksgiving Tradition

In August, President Donald Trump pardoned former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who’d been convicted of criminal contempt of court for his “flagrant disregard” of a district court judge’s mandate that he stop rounding up undocumented people for deportation. On Tuesday, Trump is scheduled to pardon at least one of two turkeys charged with… potentially being dinner.

The event, set to take place in the White House Rose Garden Tuesday afternoon, marks the annual ceremony’s 70th anniversary, the White House noted in its Nov. 16 announcement. The notice also stated that Trump will celebrate the occasion “as he reflects on our Nation’s rich Thanksgiving traditions and wishes American families a safe and healthy holiday” — a decidedly warmer message than some of the commander-in-chief’s previous Thanksgiving missives, from his time as a civilian.

The White House confirmed that the two turkeys had been parked in a luxury hotel in Washington, where the price for a night’s stay runs from $200 to as much as $3,500, the Hill reported.

Following the ceremony, the birds, both hailing from the deep-red, Trump-voter heartland of western Minnesota, will be transferred mercifully to an exhibit known as 'Gobbler's Rest' at the Virginia Institute of Technology, where they will be under the care of veterinarians and their students, according to the White House release.

An additional two turkeys, brought in from a Pennsylvania farm, will not be so lucky, as the Trumps will donate them to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Martha’s Table.

While President Abraham Lincoln initiated clemency for the birds in 1863, the official presidential power to pardon was first applied to the traditional Thanksgiving choice of poultry in 1989, by President George H. W. Bush, according to the White House Historical Association. It’s unlikely that the turkeys themselves, the association noted, cared much about the semantics.

The tradition of pardoning both turkeys, rather than selecting a survivor and a meal-to-be, began during former President Barack Obama’s term in 2009, when, at the urging of daughters Sasha and Malia, the 44th president relieved both Courage and Carolina of an impending dinner-table death penalty. Starting in 2012, those interested could take to Facebook to vote for their preferred bird to win the title of “National Thanksgiving Turkey.”

The following year, the contest expanded to Instagram and the social network with which the current chief of state is perhaps most familiar, Twitter, for users to hash out a battle between #TeamCaramel and #TeamPopcorn, which the White House appeared to frame as a sort of proxy war between Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.

The new first family has followed suit, allowing voters to choose between Drumstick and Wishbone, whose musical tastes represented a clear departure from the outspoken feminist pop stars of yore.

In 2014, the Obama sisters faced much criticism, including from a GOP staffer who later resigned, for a new Turkey Pardoning development: being bored teenagers, looking on as their father attempted a slew of dad jokes. It is unclear whether Barron Trump, the president’s youngest son, will adhere to precedent — though, as long as his father fares better with poultry photo ops than he does with those involving bald eagles, things should go smoothly.