Politix

Donald Trump's catching a bit of a break yet again ... his hefty multi-million-dollar bond in his New York civil case just got a major trim, and he may just be able to pay it off.

A NY appeals court sliced DT's civil fraud judgment bond from a staggering $454 million down to $175 million Monday ... plus they're tossing in an extra 10 days for him to rustle up the cash after his legal squad said they were hitting roadblocks securing the dough.

The ruling comes on the same day New York Attorney General Letitia James would've started trying to enforce the judgment against Trump in this case -- namely, by initiating the gears of attempting to seize his assets, including cash he might have and even properties.

Joe Biden took time out of his Sunday night to throw a jab at Donald Trump ... trolling the former president for receiving golf awards at his own course.

No. 45 got the honors at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida ... earning the titles of Club Champion and Senior Club Champion -- and afterward, he gloated about it on Truth Social.

In his post, Trump said he got the trophies over a talented field ... writing, "The qualifying and match play was amazing."

The death count in Friday's tragic Moscow mass shooting is much higher than originally believed ... according to Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

The controversial head of state reportedly told the nation during a televised address that 133 people had been killed in the vicious attack at Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on Moscow's Western outskirts.

Putin likens the shooters to Nazis ... saying they killed in an organized fashion, aiming for Russian citizens and even children.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but President Putin laid the blame squarely at the feet of Ukrainian officials ... saying they were working to let the perpetrators cross the border into their country.

FWIW ... an anonymous United States official told The Washington Post there's no reason to doubt the Islamic State's claim.

As we reported ... videos from the tragic shooting went viral -- showing graphic scenes of death and destruction at the music hall. People huddled behind chairs while gunshots echoed around the structure, and initial estimates put the death count at above 40.

Explosives were reportedly used during the attack, resulting in the whole building catching fire.

Officials in Western countries warned their citizens about venturing out to large public gatherings this month in the aftermath of Putin's recent election victory ... warning of possible terror attacks.

At least one man was detained by police last night ... caught on video being frisked with his hands up against a wall. It's unclear how many people were detained or how many were involved in the mass shooting.

Bill Maher makes a super compelling case that pandering to racial groups is a sure way to lose elections ... because all these identities in America are now blurred beyond recognition.

The 'Real Time' host lasered in on Democrats who try to sell voters on what makes us different, and he says they're barking up the wrong tree because our country has blended.

As BM says, 1 out of 5 newlyweds are now in interracial marriages, which produce multiracial children, and that's just one of many examples he offers.

Beyond that, Bill notes we no longer fit into nice, neat boxes. For example, the #1 country song is Beyonce's. Forty-one percent of Dems live with someone who owns a gun. And, as Maher muses, there's even a "Gays for Trump" org because everybody knows gays love a good drag queen!

Maher says it's no surprise Joe Biden's losing Black voters by the day, because they and other groups generally no longer make identity the trigger for casting ballots.

Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis is on President Biden's radar ... as the White House Press Secretary addressed the news minutes after it broke.

Karine Jean-Pierre kicked off her daily briefing Friday by acknowledging the White House heard the news out of Kensington Palace, and said their thoughts were with the Duchess of Cambridge, along with Prince William and the rest of the Royal Family

KJP wished Kate a full recovery, and then said she and the rest of the administration want to respect her privacy, and wouldn't comment further on the matter.

Jean-Pierre added that she wouldn't answer questions about whether the prez had spoken with any member of the Royal Family -- wisely anticipating what was coming next from the press corps -- and then moved on to other business.

It seems the news caught the White House about as off-guard as the rest of the world ... the Royal Family made no indication of Kate's health until she posted the video this morning at 11 AM PT telling the world about her diagnosis.

As we reported, Kate had abdominal surgery back in January, and she says tests run after the surgery showed cancer had been present. She started a round of preventative chemotherapy and only recently resurfaced in public.

President Biden has a close relationship with King Charles -- discussing climate change last summer on JB's first visit to the UK after Charles was crowned King, and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden actually met Kate while attending Charles' Coronation in May 2023.

Kate Middleton's mystery disappearance from public view will be solved shortly, TMZ has learned, because Kensington Palace is about to reveal specific details on her health.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the British media has been briefed on Kate's condition, but there is a strict embargo on the information until 2 PM ET, 11 AM PT.

We're also told the Palace will release a video of Kate speaking on her condition.

Our sources say this statement is dramatic, clear and could well put all the controversy surrounding her disappearance to rest.

As you know, the Palace says Kate entered the hospital in January for "scheduled abdominal surgery," but spent 13 days at The London Clinic before returning home, where she has been recuperating.

TMZ aired a special Thursday night on FOX, in which Dr. George Crawford said 13 days suggests when doctors went in for the surgery, they may have found something else.

We're told the Palace will get specific shortly.

Remember ... this all follows several weeks of speculation and innuendo over Kate's whereabouts and her overall condition -- which has been kept under wraps until now.

TMZ broke the story ... video surfaced showing Kate out and about with William last weekend, and she seemed to be doing well. It was the first real sighing of Kate out in the wild, and on her own two feet, since she had her surgery back in January.

There've been other glimpses of her in cars -- but the Windsor Farm Shop seemed to be the first instance of her walking around. Like we said ... she was happy, and looked relatively OK.

Of course, this whole saga kicked into overdrive nearly two weeks ago when Kate posted a Mother's Day photo that featured her and her kids -- but which was later revealed to be inauthentic. All the conspiracy theories about Kate up to that point only doubled.

Now, it appears Kensington Palace is geared up to set the record straight, right from the Princess's mouth.

GloRilla never thought in a million yurrrs she'd be partying up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue -- but that was the Memphis rapper's real life as she met President Biden face-to-face!!!

But, on the heels of that White House visit, Glo went on CNN to talk about whether it would impact her vote.

The "F.N.F." rapper told Laura Coates she was basically just at the White House for the vibes. When asked about possibly campaigning, she said ... "That ain't got nothing to do with me."

She punctuated her seriousness about not getting all political by singing along to Jill Scott's good mood anthem, "Golden."

Big Glo was amongst the handpicked Gen-Z influencers invited to kick it with Biden and VP Kamala Harris at a Women’s History Month event on Monday -- but her presence at the ballots on Election Day is still up in the air.

Biden's administration is feverishly trying to round up young voters ... their State of the Union watch party on March 7 had swarms of TikTokers and IG stars inside the WH, but TBD if those invites will translate to votes.

We spoke to finance guru Tiffany Aliche following the event, but she was still unsure if the glitzy galas would drive young voters to the polls.

La misteriosa desaparición de Kate Middleton podría resolverse en breve, según ha averiguado TMZ, porque el Palacio de Kensington está a punto de revelar detalles específicos sobre su estado salud.

Fuentes con conocimiento directo le dicen a TMZ que los medios de comunicación británicos han sido informados sobre el estado de Kate, pero bajo un estricto embargo que corre hasta las 2 PM ET, 11 PM PT.

También nos dicen que el Palacio dará a conocer un video de Kate hablando de su condición.

Nuestras fuentes dicen que esta declaración es dramática, clara y bien podría poner fin a toda la controversia que ha rodeado su desaparición.

Como bien saben, el Palacio dice que Kate entró al hospital en enero para someterse a una "cirugía abdominal programada", pero pasó 13 días en la clínica de Londres (The London Clinic) antes de regresar a casa, donde se ha estado recuperando.

TMZ emitió un especial el jueves por la noche en FOX, en donde el Dr. George Crawford sugiere que si un doctor recomienda 13 días de reposo puede ser porque han encontrado algo más durante el procedimiento.

Nos dicen que el Palacio será específico al respecto en breve-

Recuerden, todo esto se da luego de varias semanas de especulaciones e insinuaciones sobre el paradero de Kate.

TMZ fue el primero en compartir un video de Kate, donde aparecía yendo de compras con William el pasado fin de semana y parecía estar bien. Fue la primera vez que Kate estaba fuera y caminando sobre sus propios pies, desde que la operaron en enero.

Ha habido otros destellos de ella al interior de los vehículos, pero su aparición en la tienda de Windsor parecía ser la primera vez que podía caminar libremente. Como hemos dicho ... se veía feliz y parecía relativamente bien.

Por supuesto, toda esta saga se disparó hace casi dos semanas cuando Kate publicó una foto del Día de la Madre con sus hijos, pero que se reveló que no era auténtica. Todas las teorías conspirativas que había sobre Kate no hicieron más que duplicarse.

Ahora, parece que el Palacio de Kensington está preparado para aclarar las cosas, directamente de boca de la Princesa.

Candace Owens was fired from her hosting job at the Daily Wire because her bosses were fed up with what they viewed as her repeated promotion of antisemitism ... TMZ has learned.

The conservative media company announced Friday morning that it was parting ways with Candace, and while no official reason was mentioned ... sources with direct knowledge tell us it was squarely over what the Daily Wire honchos saw as antisemitism, and the firing went down early this week.

Candace and fellow Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro have had a very public feud recently on social media over their opposing views on the Israel-Gaza conflict -- and we're told the last straw for the DW was her March 8 appearance on the "Fresh and Fit" podcast.

The hosts were talking to Candace about the rift with Ben, and every time Ben or his wife -- who is Israeli -- was mentioned the show dropped a cha-ching sound effect, an obvious nod to the antisemitic trope about Jews and money.

While Candace didn't say anything to besmirch Ben, we're told the feeling was she didn't say anything to defend him or call out the antisemitism. To be fair, it's unclear whether she heard that sound effect while recording the podcast.

We're told Daily Wire execs had previous conversations with Candace in an attempt to understand her position -- as they didn't want to censor her -- but they felt the podcast incident crossed the line.

As one source in the know put it, Candace often bragged about being one of the best communicators in media, so the DW execs felt "she knew what she was doing."

We're also told Shapiro was not involved in the decision to fire Candace, and he doesn't have any power to do so.

Candace addressed her feud with Ben when she was on "The Breakfast Club" Thursday, saying she was not anti-Israel or antisemitic ... she's simply against all forms of genocide. A source connected to Candace insists the same, telling us "She's obviously not an antisemite."

Donald Trump seems unable to come up with the cash he needs to keep fighting his fraud case judgment -- and now, the AG is getting ready to seize one of his massive properties.

The ex-Prez's 230-acre estate in Bedford, NY -- known as Seven Springs -- appears to be in the crosshairs of Letitia James, who recently filed legal docs indicating her office is prepared to pounce on this property ... possibly the first of many in an effort to collect on the nearly half-billion judgment Trump is on the hook for after losing his bank fraud trial last month.

Online records show James' office filed to enforce the judgment in Westchester County -- which is where Seven Springs is -- signaling that law enforcement is gearing up to seize this property first if DT can't come up with the bond they need to pony up by month's end.

The fact James filed the judgment in Westchester County effectively acts as a lien on Trump's property -- and many expect her to continue snatching up his assets until the $355 million he owes is paid. In order to appeal this judgment, Trump needs to come up with even more money ... a whopping $464 million, which he's struggling to secure with a bond.

Seven Springs is so big that it actually spans three different towns there in the county -- and it oozes luxury ... with carriage houses all throughout, in addition to the main mansion.

The Seven Springs estate is one of Trump's many properties -- and there are a lot of people who believe James is prepared to seize even more if need be ... including, possibly, Trump Tower.

Here's the twist, and it just surfaced ... there's gonna be an IPO for Truth Social, and Trump could score north of $3 BILLION, but he won't be able to sell his stock for 6 months.

Here's some Gouda news for Alicia Silverstone -- her staunch support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president isn't going unnoticed, as the campaign just handed her some cheddar!

The "Clueless" star apparently pitched in to help with catering one of RFK Jr.'s campaign events in L.A. ... dropping $427.25 to get Vromage -- a fancy L.A. vegan cheese shop -- to provide hors d'oeuvres.

TMZ pulled a Federal Elections Commission filing -- under "report of receipts and disbursements" -- which states the Kennedy campaign committee fully reimbursed Alicia for fronting the cheesy tab.

Last June, Alicia publicly endorsed RFK Jr., applauding his vision of "peace, unity, and justice for all."

As for the food she chose to cater the event, Alicia's long been a vocal advocate for her vegan lifestyle -- and being in L.A. and all, it's no shock she has a fave vegan cheese shop to satisfy her plant-based palate!

In fact, the actress' been singing Vromage's praises for years ... blogging about the shop and sharing snaps of delicious meals featuring dairy-free cheese on social media.

Candace Owens -la experta en política- estuvo en "The Breakfast Club" y pasó un examen de cultura con gran éxito... ¡rojo, negro y verde!

El jueves, Charlamagne, Jess Hilarious y DJ Envy sorprendieron a Candace con un "cuestionario negro" que habían compilado, y la orgullosa -aunque polarizada- republicana, impresionó interpretando gran parte del tema de apertura de "El Príncipe de Bel-Air" de Will Smith.

A Candace tampoco se le ocurrió el nombre del juez del Tribunal Supremo Ketanji Brown Jackson... pero sabía lo qué NO hay que llevar a una comida al aire libre.

A lo largo de la aparición, Candace mantuvo que no estaba en contra de la "cultura negra", sino más bien contra la ignorancia, y culpó a las escuelas públicas y a la adoración de celebridades en la comunidad por mantener a la gente ignorante.

Su postura sobre la educación explica su reciente reacción al éxito de Ice Spice "Fart", donde declaró que la canción por sí sola hizo retroceder a la sociedad estadounidense unos cuantos niveles.

Hablando de canciones de fuego, el cuestionario también reveló que Candace necesita un repaso del tema "Good Times".

Candace Owens' "Black Card" will not be revoked -- not today, at least -- as the political pundit went on "The Breakfast Club" and passed a culture quiz with flying colors ... red, black and green!!!

On Thursday, Charlamagne, Jess Hilarious and DJ Envy all surprised Candace with a pop "Black quiz" they'd compiled, and the proud, yet polarizing, Republican impressed the gang right off the bat by rapping much of the opening theme to Will Smith's "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air."

Candace also couldn't come up with Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's name ... but she did know what NOT to bring to the cookout, in terms of food.

Throughout the appearance, Candace maintained she wasn't against Blackness, but more so Black illiteracy and blamed public schools and celebrity worship in the community for holding folks back.

Her stance on education explains her recent reaction to Ice Spice's "Fart" hit ... where she declared the track single-handedly set American society back a few notches!

Speaking of fire songs, the quiz also revealed Candace needs a refresher on the "Good Times" theme.

El Tío Sam está llevando a Apple a los tribunales con el alegato de que tiene un monopolio en el negocio de los smartphones y que la naturaleza interconectada de sus productos es un poco demasiado anticompetitiva.

El jueves, el Departamento de Justicia presentó una demanda federal contra la compañía de Tim Cook con un montón de acusaciones contra el gigante de la tecnología, incluyendo que todo su modelo de negocios es inherentemente controlador y que tiene un dominio absoluto de la industria.

En los documentos obtenidos por TMZ, los federales dicen que el ecosistema de todas las cosas de Apple -incluyendo el iPhone, su reloj de Apple y otras aplicaciones y funciones conectadas a la computadora central de Apple- ha creado un "agujero" que está dejando injustamente afuera a sus empresas rivales y a sus propios clientes.

La demanda afirma: "Durante muchos años, Apple ha creado una plataforma y un ecosistema dominante para el iPhone que han impulsado la astronómica valoración de la empresa. Al mismo tiempo, ha comprendido hace tiempo que las tecnologías disruptivas y las aplicaciones, productos y servicios innovadores amenazaban ese dominio, al hacer que los usuarios dependieran menos del iPhone o les facilitaran el cambio a un smartphone que no fuera de Apple".

Los federales añaden: "En lugar de responder a las amenazas de la competencia ofreciendo menores precios de sus teléfonos inteligentes a los consumidores o una mejor monetización para los desarrolladores, Apple habría hecho frente a las amenazas de la competencia imponiendo una serie de normas y restricciones cambiantes en sus directrices de la App Store y en sus acuerdos con desarrolladores lo que le habría permitido a Apple extraer tarifas más altas, frustrar la innovación, ofrecer una experiencia de usuario menos segura o degradada y estrangular las alternativas competitivas. Ha desplegado estas jugadas a través de muchas tecnologías, productos y servicios, incluyendo super apps, mensajería de texto, smartwatches y carteras digitales, entre muchos otros".

Además de sus productos, que los federales alegan que son creados solo para que funcionen dentro del sistema de Apple, la demanda afirma que la empresa ha hecho todo lo posible por cerrar las aplicaciones y/o programas que faciliten la comunicación de la gente entre productos iPhones con productos no iPhone. Esencialmente, están alegando que Apple ha hecho imposible interactuar con otros productos y usuarios si estos no están utilizando también un producto de Apple, y dicen que eso viola la ley federal.

La demanda también dice esto: "Si no se cuestiona, Apple solo seguirá fortaleciendo su monopolio de los smartphones. Este comportamiento anticompetitivo está diseñado para mantener su poder monopólico, mientras obtienen la mayor cantidad de ingresos posible."

Uncle Sam is taking Apple to court -- claiming they have a monopoly on the smartphone business and that the interconnected nature of their products is a little too anti-competitive.

The Dept. of Justice filed a federal lawsuit against Tim Cook's company Thursday, which makes a lot of allegations against the tech giant ... including that their whole business model is inherently gatekeeping, and has a stranglehold on the industry.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds say the ecosystem of all things Apple -- including the iPhone, their Apple Watch and other apps and features connected to Apple's mainframe -- has created a "moat" that's unfairly shutting out rival companies and their own customers.

The lawsuit states, "For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone."

The feds add ... "Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives. It has deployed this playbook across many technologies, products, and services, including super apps, text messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets, among many others."

In addition to their products -- which the feds allege are created to work only within Apple's system -- the suit claims Apple has gone out of its way to shut down apps/programs people have attempted to use to make communicating on iPhones easier with non-iPhone products. Essentially, they're alleging Apple has made it impossible to interact with Apple products/users if you're not also using an Apple product ... and they say that violates federal law.

The lawsuit also says this ... "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly ... This anticompetitive behavior is designed to maintain Apple’s monopoly power while extracting as much revenue as possible."

Ya shoot one President, and suddenly ya can't buy a break ... that's John Hinckley Jr.'s gripe, essentially, after his latest folk singing gig got canned.

The man who opened fire on President Ronald Reagan -- and also injured Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and cop -- has become a guitar-strumming folk singer, who actually gets booked for concerts, but they tend to get canceled before he gets onstage.

Hinckley's bitching about his latest yanked gig at Hotel Huxley in Naugatuck, CT, where he was supposed to perform on March 30 ... until the venue announced last week it was pulling the plug. He told the NY Post, "I think it's fair to say I'm a victim of cancel culture."

Referring to all of his canceled shows, he added, "It keeps happening over and over again."

Last week Hotel Huxley posted on its IG page, "You Guessed It: Postponed Until Further Notice (They're killin us here)." That last line seems to be a reference to the massive backlash the venue was getting for booking Hinckley -- but also feels distasteful, considering the concert date would've marked 43 years, to the day, since the attempted assassination of Reagan.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and spent nearly 30 years in a mental health hospital before he was released in 2016.

Since then, he's picked up the guitar and actually released songs on his YouTube channel.

His first concert was booked for Brooklyn in 2022, but again, was canceled due to backlash -- and that's subsequently happened for his other planned shows in Georgia, Illinois and Virginia ... where he now lives in Williamsburg.

Karma. It's a thing.