WASHINGTON (AP) - In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, President Donald Trump has used the power of his office to keep a pair of turkeys off the holiday table.

  

Trump's poultry pardon means the two turkeys - a 39-pound bird named Peas and a 41-pounder named Carrots - will get to live the rest of their lives at a Virginia farm. Both were raised on a farm near Huron, South Dakota. First lady Melania Trump joined her husband for the act of mercy carried out during a light-hearted ceremony in the White House Rose Garden.

  

President George H.W. Bush established the annual turkey pardon tradition in 1989 by sparing a 50-pound bird.

  

Trump was traveling to his Florida estate later Tuesday to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family.