Politix

The Secret Service beefed up security for Donald Trump in the weeks before the attempt on his life ... because of intelligence concerning an assassination plot by Iran.

The alleged Iranian threat was gathered from a human source in recent weeks and it was known by the U.S. Secret Service ... according to CNN, citing unnamed sources.

The report says there's no indication would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks -- the 20-year-old who tried and failed to kill Trump -- was connected to the alleged Iranian plot.

Thomas Matthew Crooks was branded a "shooter" by his peers years before his assassination attempt on Donald Trump ... so says a former classmate.

Julianna Grooms -- who attended Bethel Park High School with Trump's would-be assassin -- has shed more light on the bullying Thomas faced before his deadly attack at Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

As Julianna told The New York Times ... Thomas was labeled "the school shooter" by his fellow students -- who apparently often teased him for his poor hygiene and body odor.

Senator Bob Menendez has been found guilty on all counts in his federal corruption trial.

The jury issued their verdict on Tuesday in a Manhattan courthouse, with the New Jersey Democrat being convicted on 16 counts -- including bribery, extortion, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, as well as acting as a foreign agent.

Menendez was indicted in September for his alleged role in a bribery scheme ... accused of using his influence as a U.S. Senator to advance the interests of the Egyptian military. Menendez and his wife, Nadine, allegedly received several bribes ... including gold bars, thousands of dollars in cash, and a Mercedes-Benz convertible, among other gifts.

A private call between RFK Jr. and Donald Trump just hours after the assassination attempt was made public, and RFK Jr. is horrified his son is the culprit who posted it.

During the call, Trump talked about his phone conversation with President Joe Biden just after the shooting. Trump says Biden was inquisitive as to how he chose to turn his head to the right -- a move that probably saved his life.

Trump says he told Biden he turned because he was referring to a chart, although he was not specific. The chart was an indictment of Biden's immigration policies.

Lee Greenwood is positive Donald Trump surviving an assassination attempt was divine intervention ... and he's praying it'll result in a stronger Christian nation going forward.

The country music star -- who's set to perform at the Republican National Convention Tuesday -- tells TMZ ... he believes faith and prayer from supporters resulted in Trump's life being spared this weekend, this after Thomas Matthew Crooks tried killing him.

In the wake of that ... LG says this country needs faith and prayer now more than ever ... because he, and many other religious people, genuinely think it worked to save 45.

Thomas Matthew Crooks -- the would-be assassin who tried and failed to take out Donald Trump -- now has an official cause of death in the books ... if it wasn't already obvious.

The Butler County Coroner tells TMZ ... Crooks died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the coroner is ruling his death a homicide. Of course, he was shot and killed by a Secret Service agent after he opened fire into the crowd in Butler, PA this weekend.

To be clear, "homicide" is the manner of death, and not a crime ... like murder or manslaughter. The coroner's ruling in no way suggests the Secret Service snipers were in unjustified in taking out Crooks ... who had not only opened fire on a former President, but also shot and killed a citizen in the crowd.

Tenacious D singer Kyle Gass' birthday wish about taking out Trump has turned into his worst nightmare -- 'cause his management team is cutting him off ... TMZ has learned.

Michael Greene of Greene Talent -- which was repping Kyle of late -- tells TMZ ... they've parted ways with Kyle, and no longer represent him as a direct result of his incendiary comments.

This comes shortly after Jack Black announced they're pulling the plug on the rest of their tour ... so it looks like Kyle's career has taken a hit, for now, following his "Don't miss Trump next time" comment ... which pissed off a helluva lot of people.

Donald Trump showed up to the Republican National Convention this week with an army of Secret Service agents ... none of whom were women, which is sparking an interesting convo.

The ex-Prez -- who just survived an assassination attempt over the weekend -- popped up in Milwaukee for night #1 of the convention ... marking the first time he appeared at a public event since Thomas Matthew Crooks tried putting a bullet in his head Saturday.

Of course, since then ... everyone has been saying his security detail would be beefed up -- including President Biden, who dedicated more protection -- and that was apparent Monday.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is speaking out for the first time following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump ... calling the whole ordeal "unacceptable."

The longtime member of the Secret Service -- who became director in September 2022 -- addressed Saturday's shooting with ABC News correspondent Pierre Thomas on Monday. As Cheatle put it ... she has taken full responsibility for the attack, making it clear the incident should've "never happened."

She added ... "The buck stops with me. I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary."

Jack Black has pulled the plug on his tour after his Tenacious D bandmate made a birthday wish ... grousing that the would-be-assassin didn't take out Donald Trump.

Jack says he was blindsided by Kyle Gass' remark on the heels of the shooting. KG made the comment at their show in Sydney over the weekend, as he celebrated his birthday onstage, saying he hoped another would-be assassin not miss the target next time. As you can imagine, the remark caught a ton of backlash.

Black says he would never condone violence, hate speech or encourage political violence of any sort.

Donald Trump's doctor says the ex-Prez had a good part of his ear blown clean off when he got shot -- but surprisingly, he insists DT ain't gonna need to go under the knife to fix it.

Dr. Ronny Jackson -- who was the White House physician under the Trump presidency, and who continues to see and treat 45 even now -- has been doing the media rounds over the past couple days ... and he gave some insight into what exactly Don's injury looks like.

According to him ... a bullet pierced the upper part of his ear, with the flesh and cartilage getting torn clean off -- which he says explains why Trump was bleeding so much.

The mystery behind Donald Trump's shoes after he was nearly assassinated has now come into full focus -- thanks to a new video that surfaced.

WBEN News in Buffalo, New York, obtained the 10-second clip shot from a different angle behind the stage where the Republican presidential nominee was giving his stump speech at Saturday's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump fell to the stage after getting shot in the right ear and Secret Service agents rushed to his aid, protecting the 45th President by covering him with their bodies. In doing so, Trump lost his shoes and repeatedly asked for them back.

Amber Rose showed up at the Republican National Convention to kick off a week's worth of speeches -- proving to be a powerful speaker and explaining why she backs Donald Trump.

The model and social media influencer -- who once famously dated Kanye West -- was front and center Monday night in Milwaukee where she was one of the key speakers for night #1 ... and she certainly took a hold of her opportunity and delivered a compelling message.

AR got into the backstory of how she came to support Trump and became a Republican -- and the way she tells it ... it all has to do with her challenging her father, a DT supporter.

Elon Musk is putting his money where his mouth is ... pumping $45 million a month into a political action committee backing Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, according to a new report.

Musk -- the billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX-- is among a handful of tech tycoons donating cash to America PAC, which was recently started in June, per the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ identified some of the other America PAC donors as cryptocurrency investor twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, ex-US ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft and her husband, Joe, and venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale.

While some pundits suggest the assassination attempt on Donald Trump will resonate with Black voters, Omarosa says that's bull crap ... and not just that, it's racist.

We talked to the former 'Apprentice' contestant -- who worked with Trump back in his NBC days, and in the White House -- and while she's certainly no fan of DT these days, she makes it clear from the jump that she condemns the violence against him.

That said, she also weighed in on a since-deleted Forbes article floating a theory -- namely, that Trump might use his shooting, and the fact he survived it, to pander to African-Americans.

Donald Trump Jr. says his dad was having a bit of a chuckle after he got shot this weekend in what the feds say was an assassination attempt ... which is very uniquely DT.

The ex-Prez's son was at the Republican National Convention Monday and he talked to CNN about the immediate aftermath of the shooting -- when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump but missed ... only to be shot and killed himself almost immediately after.

Here, Don Jr. explains what was happening from his end of things -- saying he tried getting a hold of his father directly ... but couldn't get through at all for about an hour and a half.