2024 Presidential Election

Kai Trump -- the granddaughter of Donald Trump -- delivered a speech Wednesday at the Republican National Convention, painting the defiant former president as your average doting grandpa.

17-year-old Kai hit the stage at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to show a completely different side to DT – who was officially named the 2024 Republican presidential nominee at the RNC.

Kai told the packed crowd that DT is just like any normal grandpa, who sneaks candy and soda to her when her parents aren't looking, while also asking her about her grades in school.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle faced 4 furious Senators at the RNC this week ... who gave her an ultimatum -- resign that evening or start answering their questions, and the clash was caught on video.

It was all captured in a clip posted to X -- GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn, John Barrasso, James Lankford, and Kevin Cramer were all over Cheatle at the Milwaukee convention Wednesday ... basically saying none of her answers from her earlier briefing were cutting it.

In the briefing, details were revealed on how Trump shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been flagged as suspicious by the Secret Service almost an hour before Trump's assassination attempt.

The world is learning more about Thomas Matthew Crooks -- and we've got additional insight from his former peers and even a teacher, who says he was smart ... but notably solitary.

TMZ spoke with a couple of Crooks' ex-classmates from Bethel Park High School -- who were in his graduating class -- and both of them, who asked not to have their names released, tell us they knew him as a loner, but not one prone to violence.

We're told Crooks was seen as quiet and keeping to himself in class ... as well as during lunch, when we're told he'd often sit and eat by himself.

TMZ has obtained a new angle of the shooting at the Donald Trump rally this weekend -- and you can see how close some people were to getting hit by bullets.

Check out this footage we got a hold of -- which captures folks in the stands right behind Trump and right underneath the monitor he was referring to in describing a graph detailing the border situation ... with a ton of people right below it looking on.

You can hear DT speaking and making his typical talking points -- and out of nowhere ... you hear what sounds like 3 shots ring out ... with bullets ricocheting off the metal railings.

Donald Trump took a bullet to the ear Saturday, but more than one was fired -- and, new video shows the moment one of the projectiles hit a railing ... and possibly a spectator too.

The clip -- which is now circulating on social media -- shows the seconds after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired toward the stage Saturday in Butler, PA ... picking up as one of the bullets ricochets off the far railing of the stands and sends people scrambling.

Watch ... the noise from the shot rings out, and a small puff of smoke explodes into the air as the bullet strikes the metal rail. Two people standing nearby immediately react.

President Joe Biden's got the 'rona -- 'cause he just tested positive for COVID-19 ... and as a result, his public appearances are being put on pause.

The news came down Wednesday out of Vegas -- where Joe was scheduled to deliver remarks at a conference for UnidosUS ... a nonprofit that's geared toward Latino civil rights and advocacy.

Instead of him hitting the podium in front of the media and others -- the organization's head honcho, Janet Murguía, came out instead and announced JB had contracted COVID, and wouldn't appear.

Eric Trump is furious with the security lapses leading up to the assassination attempt on his father ... and says a competent shooter wouldn't have missed his target.

Donald Trump's son expanded on his father's brush with death in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Norah O'Donnell ... saying it's hard to believe Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to fire at the former president from close range.

Eric says he grew up competing in shooting sports and a "rifle shot from 130 yards is like a four-inch putt ... you don't miss it if you're competent." A golf analogy for the Trumps is pretty on brand.

Thomas Matthew Crooks wasn't a fan of Donald Trump years before attempting to assassinate the former Prez ... so says one of his former classmates.

Vincent Taormina -- who went to high school with the would-be assassin -- spoke with FOX News about Thomas' political beliefs leading up to Saturday's attack ... and he says TMC didn't like politicians, period. However, he apparently really recoiled at the thought of DT.

Vince says he and Thomas had gotten into a heated debate ahead of the 2016 presidential election -- and he describes the guy as smug and arrogant when discussing topics he was passionate about, which included politics apparently.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was a member at a local gun club in Pennsylvania -- and even went a day before firing upon Donald Trump -- but he didn't leave a lasting impression on very many people who regularly go there ... TMZ has learned.

We've called around and connected with a handful of current members at the Clairton Sportsmen's Club -- not far from Crooks' home -- and the answer we got from just about all of them was the same ... nobody had ever heard of this guy before Saturday's shooting.

Bob Wolanin -- a longtime Clairton member -- tells us the name and face didn't stand out to him at all ... and ditto for another member and even a current worker at the club -- who didn't want their names out there -- but who relayed a similar sentiment ... namely, Thomas was a ghost as far as they're concerned.

President Biden insists he has no plans to drop out of the presidential race -- but is now conceding that there is one scenario that could convince him to do so.

POTUS spoke with BET News correspondent Ed Gordon for a new interview, airing Wednesday, and admitted he'd walk away from his reelection efforts if his doctors advised him to.

He explained ... "If I had some medical condition that emerged and doctors came to me and said, 'You've got this problem, you've got that problem.' ... Look when I originally ran I said I was going to be a transitional candidate, and I thought I'd be able to move from this and pass it on to someone else."

A Donald Trump-owned website is selling sneakers featuring the iconic image of the former United States President just moments after he was shot and nearly assassinated ... with the limited edition kicks costing $299!

And, they're selling fast.

In addition to the historic photo, the high tops also say, "Fight, Fight, Fight" ... the words Trump yelled moments after the gunfire subsided.

People in the emergency room at the hospital where Donald Trump was treated after being shot were beside themselves as the motorcade rolled up ... everyone seemed to fear it was JFK all over again.

A man who was recording the scene said out loud that Trump had been shot in the head ... this as 45 was still in the SUV that had just parked outside the ER.

Lara Trump says she changed her RNC speech after someone tried taking out her father-in-law ... and the one she gave instead certainly resonated, especially with him.

Donald Trump's daughter-in-law -- who's married to his son, Eric Trump, and who serves as a co-chair for the Republican National Committee -- stepped up to the podium Tuesday at the party's convention in Milwaukee and delivered what many are calling powerful remarks.

Take a listen ... right out of the gate, LT acknowledges she had a very different speech written out before DT was shot on Saturday -- and she reflected on how seeing that felt.

Rep. Matt Gaetz is keeping his beef with ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy alive and well at the RNC -- taunting his nemesis on the floor ... and getting checked in the same breath.

A couple different videos from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee show Gaetz heckling McCarthy as the former congressman gives a TV interview ... interrupting him while he was speaking and mockingly wondering if he was set to speak Tuesday night.

Gaetz -- who led last year's charge to oust McCarthy as House Speaker -- can be overheard taunting KM over his lack of a speaking slot at the RNC ... at which point Gaetz drops the hammer, saying ... "If you took that stage, you would get booed off of it."

Donald Trump's Secret Service detail is catching heat for a security failure after he was shot -- and an ex-agent who worked with him has thoughts on how they could've prevented this.

Mike de Geus -- who worked for the Secret Service during the Trump years, and who used to guard the former President -- tells TMZ there were a lot of problems he saw with the way the Secret Service handled things Saturday, including several glaring issues they missed.

He points out that there are very simple things the agency could've done to block off the clear line of sight Thomas Matthew Crooks had from a building outside the perimeter ... even if that technically wasn't within the Secret Service's ring of protection.

Whoever created a fake 'Simpsons' image, falsely suggesting the show predicted Donald Trump would be assassinated is drawing the ire of the show's head honcho, who calls it a sick move.

The drama kicked off shortly after Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the ex-Prez -- a social media user posted a doctored animated image of Trump from "The Simpsons," showing him in a casket with the caption, "First time I've seen a 'Simpsons' prediction fail."

Now, this entire premise is based on misinformation (more on that in a minute) ... but "The Simpsons" showrunner Matt Selman is still slamming the image in the strongest possible terms.