President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump participated in a turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House Tuesday before departing for Florida, where they will spend the Thanksgiving holiday.

“On behalf of the first lady and the entire Trump family, I want to wish all Americans a very, very happy Thanksgiving,” Trump said. “It’s a great time of the year, and our country is doing really well economically, like we’ve never done before.”

The National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is an annual ceremony in which the president is presented with a live domestic turkey by the National Turkey Federation. It’s a tradition that dates back to the 1940s, though the turkeys were generally slaughtered and eaten after the ceremony. In the ’70s, it became standard to save the turkey, and form

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