Between Election Day and Inauguration Day, the New York Police Department spent $25.7 million “to protect Trump Tower and the First Family,” according to a letter from the department’s commissioner. That figure is down from the $35 million that was initially estimated in December. The costs associated with protecting President Donald Trump and his family for 75 days during the transition period differed greatly depending on whether Trump himself was in town.

Why was the initial estimate of $35 million nearly one-third higher than the actual cost? “The initial estimate to provide security for Trump Tower was calculated using anticipated costs,” an NYPD spokesperson told POLITICO. “Subsequently, modifications were made to the security plan, and the amount was recalculated using actual costs.”

The intent of the commissioner’s letter, which was sent on Tuesday, was to extract resources from the federal government to reimburse the city for protecting Trump and his family during the transition. Though New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, initially asked for $35 million (based on the NYPD’s initial estimate) to cover the costs, the federal government has paid the city $7 million so far.

Trump has yet to visit Trump Tower, or New York City, since Inauguration Day. When he does–he has suggested he would like to spend weekends in Manhattan–the same costs would likely apply, if not more. Regardless, the presence of his wife Melania and his son Barron at Trump Tower incurs heavy costs. It would cost $50 million over a year-long period to protect the two of them for a year (Melania and Barron are expected to stay through the school year). If Trump joins them on weekends, as he has indicated he will do, that will jump to $60 million per year.

In his letter, O’Neill also acknowledged the collateral effects of siphoning the city’s budget to protect the president and his family: “Trump Tower itself now presents a target to those who wish to commit acts of terror against our country, further straining our limited counterterrorism resources.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Inauguration Day 2009: President Barack Obama is sworn in as the first black leader of a country yearning for change. Inauguration Day 2017: President Donald Trump is sworn in as the first leader with zero government–or military–experience of a country yearning for change. Aside from the passionate, divisive, and largely unprecedented calls for change, January 20, 2009, and January 21, 2017 had little in common. But what about the subsequent two weeks? Do Obama and Trump have more in common than meets the eye? Let’s take a look.

Executive Actions

In their first week in office, Obama and Trump signed 15 and 14 executive actions respectively. As of Friday, the two-week anniversary of his presidency, Trump has signed 20 total executive actions: eight executive orders, and 12 memoranda. By the end of week two, Obama had signed 20 executive actions as well: 10 executive orders, and 10 memoranda. While both used the power of the presidential pen significantly more than Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, the executive actions issued at the beginning of 2009 and 2017 are vastly different.

Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility on his second day in office. He directed the interrogations of detained suspects to follow the Army Field Manual, which effectively made torture illegal. Obama called for more funds to help aid refugees from the Gaza Strip. These were largely benign moves that may have ruffled a few feathers, but did not ignite protests around the world.

Trump’s executive actions during his first two weeks irked allies and enemies alike, and galvanized thousands of people to protest in airports and city streets around the country. On day one, Trump ordered Republicans to repeal Obamacare. It had little concrete effect, but it certainly set the tone. Next, Trump ordered “the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border” with Mexico. He called for a crackdown on illegal immigrants. He placed a freeze on federal hiring, and he withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation free trade deal involving Australia, Canada, and Japan.

And capping off his first week in the Oval Office, Trump froze the U.S. refugee program for at least 120 days, banned citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S. for at least 90 days, and barred Syrians–refugees and immigrants–from coming to the U.S. indefinitely. With the scribble of his signature, Trump revoked 60,000 to 100,000 visas, and kept an estimated 20,000 desperate people from finding refuge in the U.S.

Foreign Policy

When Obama first moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, domestic issues–the recession and the collapse of the automobile industry, for starters–demanded most of his attention. But the world around him still had plenty of issues to address. U.S. troops in Afghanistan were in need of a boost, and Obama tried to give them just that by promising to ship an additional 30,000 troops to the battlefield. Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, was harboring jihadist militants, and Obama briefly flirted with sending troops there as well.

But he did not alienate allies. He did not blow Twitter kisses to traditional adversaries; nor did he inflame tensions with them. The world was a different place: the European Union was intact and still viewed as an inevitable and vital organ for peace in the region; populism and nationalism did not threaten the decades-long international order; refugees were not gushing out of Syria, desperately seeking refuge and drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.

Trump has inherited a vastly different international reality, and has responded to that reality in ways quite foreign to allies and enemies alike. His first order of business: ordering the building of a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, and insisting Mexico pay for it. The move infuriated Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto so much that he canceled his planned meeting with Trump.

A few days later, Trump held a baffling telephone conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Upon learning the U.S. agreed to take in over 1,000 refugees from Australia, Trump reportedly hung up the phone. Turnbull has since disputed that report, and said the call ended “courteously.” On Friday, two days after National Security Advisor Michael Flynn put Iran “on notice” for its missile test. Trump warned Iran with a Twitter missile of his own:

Iran is playing with fire – they don’t appreciate how “kind” President Obama was to them. Not me!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017

Domestic Deeds

Perhaps the most important item on Obama’s to-do list during his first few weeks as president was to resuscitate America’s economy. His nearly $800 billion stimulus plan aimed to do just that, and Obama, attempting to avoid a partisan feud, met with Republicans on the Hill to work out the details. Partisanship won the day however (but did not crush the law), as the stimulus bill ultimately passed with zero Republican votes in the House, and only three in the Senate.

Obama’s opening approval rating, an imperfect if increasingly irrelevant metric, was at 67 percent. After a few days, only 45 percent of Americans approved of the job Trump was doing, the lowest approval rating in the modern polling era. And though Trump has not had to deal with a sinking economy in his first few weeks, his domestic agenda is plenty full.

As Trump begins to steer the U.S. into uncharted waters, bi-partisanship is largely a fable of the past. Hyper-partisanship might have started the day Obama took office, and the years of Republican obstruction that followed, but the country is currently at a boiling point for polarized politics. Trump has taken aim at the “failing” media and at “weak” Democrats, but also at some “lyin'” and “little” members of his own party.

Between Republican infighting, an emboldened far-left, a nascent Tea Party-like progressive movement, and a weakened establishment on both sides, Trump is the king of a castle that is undergoing an intense and disruptive restructuring. Within that context, Trump has moved quick and early in implementing his domestic agenda.

He has taken aim at Obama-era regulations, pledging to erase two for each new rule Trump enacts. On Friday, Trump targeted the Dodd-Frank law which, among other things, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And on Tuesday evening, Trump ended a bitter year-long dispute over the vacant Supreme Court seat by nominating Neil Gorsuch to the position.

Like never before, America seems broken in two. Trump has followed through on a number of campaign promises in the early going, satisfying his base, and enraging opponents who were hopeful he would back away from some of his most divisive plans. His opponents are not only taking to the streets, but to the courtroom as well: as of Thursday, Trump faces over 50 lawsuits, more than triple the amount Clinton, Bush, and Obama faced in their first two weeks–combined.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Twitter is convinced that our new First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump, is being held hostage. While the theory sounds quite far-fetched, it’s not without some evidence, prompting the viral hashtag #FreeMelania.

In a clip from the inauguration, Melania is seen smiling at her husband, President Donald Trump, but the second he turns back around her smile is gone.

Here’s a closer look:

#FreeMelania Blink twice if you want us to save you. pic.twitter.com/1H5as3tbZq

— ISTANBUL THEMES (@ISTANBUL_THEMES) January 24, 2017

Twitter users were quick to speculate on whether or not the first lady was acting on her own free will, and here’s their evidence:

Exhibit A:

Her husband didn’t escort her to meet the Obamas.

Donald Trump was so excited to see the Obamas that he forgot his bride at the car. #SpicerFacts #obamasgrace #4yearsof #freeMelania pic.twitter.com/TM4LnqzE2B

— Wonky Badgal (@mob_ms1) January 22, 2017

Exhibit B:

There’s something suspicious about that Tiffany box.

Everyone was wondering what was in the Tiffany box that Melania handed Michelle Obama… We were hoping it was this pic.twitter.com/dcoG4Ub2US

— RogelioGarcia Lawyer (@LawyerRogelio) January 22, 2017

Exhibit C:

The Trumps’ physical affection is lacking.

I’m so glad this GIF exists. pic.twitter.com/a4BNmzfa5C

— summer. (@SummerNazif) January 21, 2017

Exhibit D: 

She kinda looks miserable.

I’m not the only one bored by this parade. #FreeMelania pic.twitter.com/l2DCgcJWgN

— Michelle Kelly (@shellyellykelly) January 20, 2017

While the Trumps’ lifestyle differs greatly from the average American couple, let’s be real: Melania probably isn’t being held hostage by her husband. In fact, the first lady has condemned her online critics in the past and has pledged to combat cyberbullying during her husband’s term in office.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Donald Trump is now officially the 45^th president of the United States. But something else caught our attention at the inauguration ceremony–Kellyanne Conway’s outfit. She celebrated Trump’s swearing in wearing a very patriotic coat/dress in red, white, and blue. Someone pointed out that the outfit is a $3,600 Gucci creation, and if you look closely, the buttons are actually catheads. She paired the coat with a red hat.

Twitter exploded with speculation about her inspiration:

Why is Kellyanne Conway wearing a Nutcracker costume

— David A. Graham (@GrahamDavidA) January 20, 2017

Who wore it better: #KellyanneConway or the #Nutcracker???? https://t.co/PrA7dVBTq7 pic.twitter.com/VEsmukfHfl

— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) January 20, 2017

“The Daily Show” was pretty on point.

Kellyanne Conway dressed as the era Trump wants to take America back to. #InaugurationDay pic.twitter.com/Vrmc1Bq3Nz

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 20, 2017

Though the colors match the American flag, the high-end designer clothing site Net-A-Porter wrote that the coat was inspired by the British flag that includes the same colors. And considering the British connection, she could also have been inspired by this furry guy—especially with the hat.

Who wore it better: Kellyanne Conway or Paddington Bear? pic.twitter.com/CP2M6fzLyD

— Michael Hopper (@mhopp7) January 20, 2017

But the French flag also has the same colors, so maybe it was a nod to Napoleon.

Kellyanne Conway going for the “Napoleon” look I see #Inauguration #DisruptJ20 pic.twitter.com/SbRSA7vRE8

— Yes, You’re Racist (@YesYoureRacist) January 20, 2017

Or maybe she was influenced by the sports world?

Why does Kellyanne Conway look like the old New England Patriots logo? pic.twitter.com/swgdHH53v6

— Tyler Brooke (@TylerDBrooke) January 20, 2017

Today also happens to be Kellyanne’s 50^th birthday, so maybe she just wanted to be really dressed up in her favorite colors. The inauguration festivities will go on all day long and end with the inaugural balls tonight.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Today, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s bruising, baffling, and bludgeoning journey to this moment left many with a sour taste in their mouths. He had an unprecedented journey–a billionaire with no political experience securing the highest office in the land. Along the way, Trump torched a litany of people, from his admonishing of Mexicans as “rapists” to his dismissal of the country’s intelligence organizations in their conclusion that Russia propped him up.

And so, as thousands hit the National Mall to cheer “Trump!” thousands more have stormed the nation’s capital to proclaim “not my president!” Law enforcement officials said they expect 63 protests around the city on Friday, with more to come, including the Woman’s March, on Saturday. Protesters camped out at checkpoints around the city on Friday morning. Some danced. Some walked arm in arm. And some smashed windows. But all had something to say.

Before the ceremony began, protesters with #DisruptJ20 streamed past police officers, some of whom tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas:

#BREAKING: Tear gas deployed towards anti-Trump protesters in Washington D.C #DisruptJ20 #TrumpProtest #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/EsphpsCoSl

— Kris Cruz (@rc_kris) January 20, 2017

Other protesters expressed their disapproval of Trump in a more aggressive manner. In the downtown sections of the city, some protesters, calling themselves “anti-fascist, anti-capitalist,” chucked bricks at windows–including this limousine:

Peaceful Protest #DisruptJ20 pic.twitter.com/WppLa815kv

— imwithMAGA (@imwithMAGA) January 20, 2017

Chaos ensued in other parts of the city, far away from the peaceful transfer of power on the steps of the U.S. Capitol:

BREAKING NEWS: Protests have turned violent, Riot police respond. #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/gTQLbDozhN

— TheAnonMessage (@TheAnonnMessage) January 20, 2017

One group of protesters even included a certain arctic-dwelling bear:

One of many roving protests at #TrumpInauguration outside checkpoint at US District Courthouse. #McPherson #DisruptJ20 pic.twitter.com/yoeHISzQOM

— DCMediaGroup (@DCMediaGroup) January 20, 2017

President Barack Obama, for one, added his voice to the of millions of others who wish to be heard today and tomorrow:

I won’t stop; I’ll be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by your voices of truth and justice, good humor, and love.

— President Obama (@POTUS44) January 20, 2017

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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For the thousands of people planning to flood the National Mall on Inauguration Day, to cheer or to jeer, a D.C.-based group has an idea to ease the potentially tense atmosphere: free marijuana joints. The D.C. Cannabis Coalition, an activist organization in a city where recreational marijuana is (mostly) legal, will be handing out thousands of joints on the morning of January 20. On the west side of Dupont Circle, the group will hand out coffee and tea, and at 10 a.m., begin to march south toward the National Mall, handing out joints along the way.

The group has a cache of 4,200 joints, and at 4 minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s speech, marchers are encouraged to light their joints.”The main message is it’s time to legalize cannabis at the federal level,” said Adam Eidinger, the founder of DCMJ, a DC Cannabis Coalition partner and the group that drafted the initiative that legalized recreational pot in the capital.

Eidinger acknowledged that protesters would be breaking the law if they smoked in public, and on federal land, but he encouraged it as “a form of civil disobedience.” He said: “I think it’s a good protest. If someone wants to do it, they are risking arrest, but it’s a protest and you know what, the National Mall is a place for protest.”

Eidinger said the protest was welcome to Trump supporters and opponents alike, and is aimed more at pushing to recognize marijuana as a legal substance at the federal level than anything else. Cannabis, though legal in some form in a majority of states and D.C., is banned by the federal government. And DCMJ is no fan of Trump’s appointee for attorney general, Jeff Sessions.

In late November, when Trump announced Sessions as his choice for attorney general, DCMJ called the former Alabama senator “one of the biggest prohibitionists in Congress.” The group added: “We can’t idly sit by and watch all the hard work we’ve done to legalize cannabis in DC be eroded by an out of touch prohibitionist!” But the joint giveaway is not all about protesting Sessions, or Trump, or the federal marijuana ban. “This is really a gift for people who come to Washington, D.C.,” Eidinger said.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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