--- title: President Trump Pardons Drumstick the Thanksgiving Turkey description: On Tuesday, President Trump bestowed the honor of an official presidential pardon on turkey Drumstick, part of annual tradition. canonical: https://time.com/5033659/trump-turkey-pardon-reax/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-21T18:40:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:32:32.500Z og:title: The Internet Has Feelings About Trump's Turkey Pardon og:description: It's Drumstick's lucky day og:url: https://time.com/5033659/trump-turkey-pardon-reax/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8c161176ecffce1/6988e69fe76ad25982630064/trump-turkey-pardon-drumstick.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-TURKEY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Has Feelings About Trump's Turkey Pardon twitter:description: It's Drumstick's lucky day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8c161176ecffce1/6988e69fe76ad25982630064/trump-turkey-pardon-drumstick.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Has Feelings About Trump's Presidential Turkey Pardon > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ac1e3645-9a9c-403c-8681-090ed09089a2&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BDio8rFA.m3u8) (1:08)  _Published 2017-11-21. President Donald Trump pardons the national Thanksgiving turkey at the White House._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 21, 2017 6:40 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 21, 2017 6:40 PM UTC Tuesday was Drumstick’s lucky day, as the 47-pound turkey was bestowed with an [official presidential pardon](http://time.com/5032154/turkey-pardon-2017/) from President Donald Trump in the White House’s Rose Garden. Visitors and press assembled hours before the big moment, curious if the honor would go to Drumstick or his poultry compatriot, Wishbone, who had also been sent to Washington, D.C. for [the annual occasion.](http://time.com/4575217/presidential-turkey-pardon/) The two turkeys enjoyed an evening at a local four-star hotel thanks to their sponsors, the National Turkey Federation, and spent the moments before the pardoning getting [serenaded by a band](https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/933029948868227072) and visiting [the White House briefing room.](https://twitter.com/CLH45/status/933008687790161921) The White House put it up [to an online poll](https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/932648144348868610) to see which of the two would receive the ultimate on-air honor; 60% of the votes went to Drumstick. Both of the birds, however, will now head off to Virginia Tech’s “Gobbler’s Rest” to live out the rest of their days in slaughter-free peace. But the internet has plenty to say about this year’s pardoning shenanigans, regardless of the outcome — including Trump’s jokes about Obama’s own pardon last year (to Tater and Tot). > [](https://twitter.com/Scavino45/status/933037008158646272) > [](https://twitter.com/smpage/status/933035114220593152) > [](https://twitter.com/chiglinsky/status/933039381518147584) > [](https://twitter.com/daniellevalore/status/933031044118450176) > [](https://twitter.com/utahbug/status/933035722503634944) > [](https://twitter.com/pete%5Fwells/status/933034795466133504) > [](https://twitter.com/ashleyfeinberg/status/933035814128406530) > [](https://twitter.com/morningmoneyben/status/933036119029174276) > [](https://twitter.com/ThomasJonHarris/status/933038766364782593) ## Transcript As many of you know, I have been very active in over turning a number of executive actions by my predeceasing. However, I have been informed by the White House council's office that [ UNKNOWN ] pardons cannot, under any circumstances, be revoked. So we're not going to revoke. So Taylor and [ UNKNOWN ], you can rest easy. [ NOISE ]. How heavy is that bird? Thirty- six pounds. Thirty- six pounds. It's a big bird. Do I have to touch it? [ NOISE ]. Wow. [ LAUGH ]. I feel so good about myself doing this. [ LAUGH ]. Are you ready Drumstick? [ LAUGH ]. Drumstick, you are hereby pardoned. 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