President Obama will hold his final press conference on Wednesday, capping off a farewell tour that culminated with this speech in Chicago last week. On his last foreign trip, the President went to Germany, Greece and Peru back in November. He also presented his last Presidential Medal of Freedom to Vice President Joe Biden in a touching ceremony last week.

In an ominous sign of what we can expect from a Trump presidency, the incoming chief of staff to the president and former RNC chair Reince Priebus told Walter Shaub, director of the Office of Government Ethics, to “be careful.” Following Trump’s press conference last week, when he attempted to show the extent to which he was separating himself from his businesses, Shaub said what he heard from the President-elect was “meaningless.”

On Thursday, President Barack Obama surprised Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, given with distinction. In a heartfelt ceremony where both men had a hard time keeping their emotions in check, the friendship the Internet has been so fond of these past eight years came to a fitting end in the public eye.

Candidate for President of France Marine Le Pen was seen at Trump Tower on Thursday morning. Le Pen, the nationalist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant politician, and leader of France's National Front, was spotted by transition pool reporters. They subsequently identified she was speaking with Guido “George” Lombardi. Lombardi, a member of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League, is described as “Cofounder, National Liaison, Press Correspondent” on the Citizens for Trump Web site.

Donald Trump nominated ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, a business executive with strong ties to Russia. During his confirmation hearings that began on Wednesday, various senators, including Marco Rubio, asked poignant questions about Tillerson’s relationship with Russia. While he would not agree that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, he did present adversarial views of the Kremlin.

A Pew Research poll found that 57% of American are somewhat or very concerned that Trump’s “relationships with organizations, businesses or foreign governments conflict with his ability to serve the country’s best interests.” While Trump said in his press conference on Wednesday the American people don’t care about his conflicts, the data tells a different story.

CNN reported that top intelligence officials told President-elect Trump during their classified briefing last week that Russian intelligence possessed damaging personal and financial information about him. In today’s press conference, Trump was very coy about answering questions regarding the reported two-page document.The document was presented as an appendix to the intelligence community's report on the alleged Russian interference in the election.

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 51% of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump’s transition moves. A meager 37% of respondents said they approved of how the president-elect was handling the transition period. The numbers parse along gender lines, with men at parity between those who approve and disapprove of Trump’s performance, and a significant majority of women, 59%, disapproving. Obama has a 55% approval rating, the poll shows — his best score in a Quinnipiac poll in seven years.

During Donald Trump’s first press conference since being elected the 45th President of the United States, BuzzFeed and CNN took serious blows from the president-elect and incoming press secretary. Trump called BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage” and that the outlet would “suffer the consequences.” CNN’s Jim Acosta, who was in attendance, was ignored — even as Trump railed on the news organization, calling its stories "fake news."

During his confirmation hearings this morning, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said if Hillary Clinton were investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice when Trump becomes president, he would recuse himself from the investigations. Referring to comments made about Clinton during the campaign, Sessions said: “I believe that could place my objectivity in question."