President Trump

Donald Trump's first National Christmas Tree Lighting is gonna be bigger than Barack Obama's last one -- at least when it comes to the amount taxpayer's gotta spend for it.

Federal docs outlining the government's expenses for this year's tree lighting outside the White House show the total tab will come to $128,424.

That includes $11,452 on the sound system, another $11,972 on ballistic glass to protect the Prez and fam ... and $105,000 for general event management services.

The glass will probably look something like this one from George W. Bush's 2007 lighting.

BTW, the expenses don't include the 40-50 foot tall evergreen, which is usually donated, and is different from the 20-footer Melania and Barron got last week to go inside the White House.

We know you're dying to know -- the expenses for Obama's last tree lighting ran $101,421 and did NOT include a new bulletproof glass purchase.

Master P says LaVar Ball is dead wrong for not thanking Donald Trump ​... Telling TMZ Sports he believes POTUS did help get the 3 UCLA players out of jail, and thanking him is the Christian thing to do.

Ball has refused to thank Trump despite the fact his son LiAngelo and the other UCLA players did, sparking a full-scale war of words between the Big Baller and #45.

We got P at LAX and asked him about the whole fiasco, and he couldn't have been any clearer, saying he believes in God and that means he believes in showing gratitude, even to Trump.

"I put God first, so I think that if somebody help you ... that you be appreciative, that's it."

For the record, we doubt LaVar will ever say "Thanks" to Trump, but we're pretty sure he's gonna have some words for P pretty soon.

The Trumps are going full Griswold for the holidays, 'cause they just got a Christmas tree even Chevy Chase might consider too big. Might.

Melania and Barron Trump stood by Monday as the White House holiday tree was delivered by horse-drawn carriage. We're told it comes in at a whopping 19.5 feet in length.

The tree is a Wisconsin-grown Balsam fir provided by the Chapman family of Silent Night Evergreens. They won a national contest for the honor this year.

It's tradition for the First Lady to decorate the tree based on a theme of her choosing ... and Melania seems to be giving her first one some serious thought.

No pressure!

Donald Trump's work in China isn't done yet ...

The mother of an ex-Canadian Football League player -- who's now locked up in China -- is hoping POTUS can work his magic again and bring her son home, too.

30-year-old Wendell Brown -- a former LB at Ball State -- was coaching an American football team in Chongqing, China last year when he was involved in a bar fight and arrested.

Brown claims he was attacked and was forced to defend himself. He claims several witnesses corroborate his story.

Still, he was locked up in a Chinese prison and put on trial. Brown is still behind bars while waiting on the verdict ... despite the fact the trial concluded back in June.

Now, Brown's mother Antoinette says she hopes President Trump will get involved the same way he did when LiAngelo Ball and the UCLA basketball team needed his help.

"My message to President Trump is I pray you have enough compassion to help me with my innocent son that's detained in China."

Antoinette says her son has never been in trouble with the law before -- and she wants him to get home to his 10-year-old son who misses him.

"It's been hell," Antoinette explains. "My son is like one of my closest friends."

Wendell's family has created a GoFundMe page for child care and other financial emergencies.

LiAngelo Ball might just be the answer to world peace ... 'cause Al Sharpton is actually BACKING Donald Trump after POTUS' involvement in the LiAngelo-China saga.

"I think that President Trump speaking to (President) Xi to make whatever arrangements were made ... was good," Sharpton told TMZ Sports in NYC. "He did the right thing."

But, don't expect to see Donald and Al hitting the links anytime soon ... 'cause Sharpton says "even a broke clock is right twice a day."

Also, probably worth noting that we got Sharpton BEFORE Trump publicly demanded 'Gelo and his UCLA bros show him some love.

Still ... it's a start.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood kicked off the 51st Annual CMA Awards with a heartfelt message to all the victims of recent tragedies in the U.S. ... and a song poking fun at President Trump's Twitter habit.

After sarcastically mentioning to the audience they were directed to steer clear of political commentary ... Paisley and Underwood fired off some play-it-safe jokes about Anthony Scaramucci, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

But right as Carrie seemed to be moving into the first award of the night ... Brad rocked a "Before He Cheats" spoof that took a few jabs at the Prez. Remember covfefe? They sure do.

Before the parody tune, Paisley and Underwood dedicated the night's ceremony to victims of the mass shootings in Vegas and Texas, attacks in Charlottesville and NYC, and all the recent natural disasters.

Alec Baldwin jumped in the shower with SNL's Alex Moffat to mock the paranoia in Washington that everyone is wired.

Baldwin reprieved his Donald Trump character, who took Moffat -- who plays Paul Manafort -- to the shower where it would be impossible to record their conversation.

And then, of course, the Harvey Weinstein joke from Baldwin ... "What an idiot that Harvey Weinstein is, he could've gotten away with all of it if he was elected president."

Ted Cruz says he really hopes President Trump releases ALL of the secret JFK assassination files -- so everyone can see once and for all if his father was REALLY involved in the plot.

President Trump himself has previously suggested Ted's dad Rafael had some sort of role in the killing -- saying, "His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald being, you know, shot."

It appeared Trump was referencing a National Enquirer article that featured a photo of Oswald handing out pro-Castro pamphlets with another man it claimed to be Rafael Cruz.

Around 20 NFL players kneeled in the most intense protest yet ... a protest clearly triggered by Donald Trump.

Players from both the Ravens and the Jaguars took a knee before their game in London as the National Anthem played. Ray Lewis cried as he took a knee.

What's especially interesting ... Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who donated $1 million to Trump's campaign, locked arms with 2 players.

Barack Obama is coming out swinging at Donald Trump's decision to end his pro-immigration program, DACA, calling it "cruel" and condemning the White House for doing so.

44 posted a 2-page response on Facebook Tuesday not long after Trump announced his decision. It's a huge departure from Trump's 140-character jabs on Twitter.

Barack starts by acknowledging immigration can be a controversial topic, but says ultimately there should be no threat to the future of "young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us.”

Obama continues ... "What makes us American is not a question of what we look like, or where our names come from, or the way we pray. What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of ideals – that all of us are created equal..."

Barack says it's up to Congress now whether Trump's decision to end the program ultimately goes through or not.

The guy with the "Blacks for Trump" t-shirt who sat behind President Trump is so out there ... his former cohorts in a cult, accused of murdering a bunch of people, want nothing to do with him.

Members of the cult Yahweh ben Yahweh were tried for conspiracy to commit murder in the '90s. The guy in the t-shirt, Maurice Symonette, was also charged but was eventually acquitted.

Famed attorney Jayne Weintraub, who repped not only cult leader Hulon Mitchell, Jr. but also Symonette, tells TMZ the cult has absolutely no affiliation with Symonette anymore, nor do they want any.

Weintraub says, "Mr. Symonette's voice is his own personal views and should not be a reflection or associated with the Nation of Yahweh."

Jeb Bush says he has no regrets after losing his White House bid to Donald Trump ... because Miami living with no media attention is all he needs to be happy.

We got the former Florida Guv and Republican presidential contender at LAX Monday, where he caught us up on everything from his dad's health to life outside the glare.

He has a clear, strong reaction about what could have been had he won the election.

Don Lemon is kinda awesome ... seems the way he sees it, why do you need big Hollywood stars when he and others in his biz shine just as bright?

Don was stylin' in his tux, walking into the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night at the Washington Hilton, when our photog asked about the absence of A-listers at the bash. Stars like Kim Kardashian, Morgan Freeman and Reese Witherspoon have all attended in recent years.

The CNN host doesn't hesitate ... you look in the mirror and then look around and that will do the trick.

A man was just arrested outside The White House after he allegedly jumped a protective barrier in an attempt to reach Donald Trump.

According to reports, the man hopped over a security barricade -- called a "bike rack" -- set up between the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Ave and the White House Fence. The man was allegedly carrying a document which he wanted to deliver to the President and did not have any weapons on him.

A CNN report says the man was arrested within two minutes of jumping the fence and the vehicle he arrived in is currently being searched.

TMZ broke the story ... a man who arrested on White House grounds last week was turned away by Secret Service agents just hours before he successfully gained entry for 20 minutes.

One of the dozens of detainees at LAX -- held since Donald Trump's "Muslim ban" went into effect -- is a Croatian citizen, according to the ACLU ... which is odd because Croatia is NOT one of the 7 banned countries.

Sources connected to the ACLU, who are on the ground at LAX, tell TMZ the Croatian woman flew into LAX from Paris this weekend. We're told she was forced to sign docs surrendering her tourist visitor's visa to enter the U.S. ... and she is set to be flown back to Paris.

As we reported ... immigrants at LAX who've been detained are being coerced to sign over their visas and green cards, as well as being sent back to their home countries.

At this point, it's unclear why the Croatian citizen is being detained by Customs and Border Protection. We've reached out to national headquarters ... but no one's picking up.

The woman's detention is also puzzling because a federal judge issued a temporary stay of Trump's ban ... for anyone traveling with a valid visa, and we're told this woman was.

Meanwhile ... attorneys are currently at LAX offering free legal services to detainees and their families. Protests continue outside the airport.