President Trump

Some of the cops who orchestrated Stormy Daniels' Ohio arrest openly revere President Trump ... according to a reporter who says there's proof the bust was political revenge.

Derek Myers is the interim editor-in-chief at the Fayette Advocate who uncovered emails to and from the arresting officer. He tells TMZ ... one involved officer would openly say "Make America Great Again," and another had a Twitter "shrine" to POTUS.

As we reported ... Myers obtained several emails between high-ranking Columbus cops who gathered details about Stormy 2 days before she was scheduled to perform at a strip club there.

Michael Avenatti has claimed all along his client's arrest was really about politics, and Myers says that's more than just a theory.

Marco Rubio doesn't need convincing Vladimir Putin kills his opponents ... he says it's obvious.

We got the Senator from Florida in D.C. Tuesday to get his take on Putin straight-up getting asked by FOX News host Chris Wallace why so many of his political rivals end up dead.

You'll recall Putin answered by calling out the U.S. for the assassinations of JFK and MLK. Rubio ain't buying the answer because there's a fundamental difference in those murders.

President Trump threw the U.S. under the bus by publicly taking Vladimir Putin's word that Russia didn't meddle in the 2016 election ... so says Massachusetts' U.S. senator.

We got Sen. Ed Markey Monday in D.C. and he said Trump's display in Helsinki makes it clear he's only looking out for himself in dealing with Putin. He defied U.S. intelligence info, and said he didn't see any reason why Russia would have meddled in our elections.

Markey says Monday's summit should have been confrontational, but instead turned into an embarrassing display of virtual ass-kissing.

President Trump's historic summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin didn't come cheap ... U.S. taxpayers are on the hook for more than $300k ... TMZ has learned.

According to federal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the State Department made tons of new purchase orders specifically for Monday's Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, Finland. For hotels alone, the bill was $128,681.39. Tech support was a cool $100,972.50, and that included $12k alone for laptop/printer rentals.

And, as much as Trump hates the "fake news" media, he still fed them pretty well. Catering for the press cost $52,703.38. The Secret Service's ballistic glass installation and removal alone cost $15,913.35. There's also a $56k airport hangar rental fee. All in all ... the U.S. Gov dropped $302,124.62.

Presidents Trump and Putin got a thing going on ... a love thing, if ya buy into the satirical cartoon The New York Times just released, which is already stirring a ton of controversy.

"Trump and Putin: A Love Story" uses real soundbites from POTUS and puts them over images of the leaders on a date -- cruising in a car and riding a unicorn surrounded by rainbows and hearts.

Their rendezvous takes a TV-MA turn, though -- Trump tweaks Putin's nipples, they make out and, finally ... there's some intense tongue wrestling.

Some people think the whole thing is extremely homophobic, and others see it as hilarious.

So, we gotta ask ...

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are getting the royal treatment -- the long-awaited meeting with Queen Elizabeth is going down ... and, so far, so good.

The Prez and Her Majesty finally met Friday at Windsor Castle where a Guard of Honor gave the Trumps a royal salute, which included "The Star-Spangled Banner."

While Trump's known for busting out the alpha male power handshake with foreign dignitaries ... he went easy on QE2. Afterward, they went inside for, what else ... afternoon tea.

Thousands of Brits are protesting Prez Trump's visit in response to his criticisms of Prime Minister Theresa May and London's mayor -- but, everything was pretty chill on the Castle grounds.

Trump's making himself right at home too. Sarah Huckabee Sanders posted a shot of him sitting in Winston Churchill's chair.

Stormy Daniels can chalk this one up as a quickie -- the charges from her Columbus, Ohio strip club arrest have already been dropped.

Prosecutors say the "touching" statute only applies to strippers who "regularly appear" at the establishment. Stormy was merely a featured guest dancer, so she's in the clear.

As we reported ... Stormy was arrested Wednesday night after motorboating an undercover police officer while performing at Sirens. According to police docs, Stormy put both hands on Officer Mary Praither's butt and breasts, and then put her breasts in the officer's face.

A judge has already signed off on the dismissal of charges.

Stormy's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said the incident reeked of a sting operation. TMZ broke the story ... sources connected with the club tell us the undercover officers waited in the back of the club for Stormy to take the stage, appearing as if they were gunning for her.

However, police say they were there investigating complaints of alleged prostitution and drug activity. They say two other strippers, who were also arrested, were the first offenders -- with one of them motorboating and groping Officer Praither.

They say Stormy's touchy-feely performance came later -- around 11:30 PM -- and she actually motorboated all 3 undercover cops, not just Praither. After Stormy's performance, she and the other 2 were arrested at the same time.

Sen. Cory Booker says President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court is nothing more than an insurance policy ... in case Robert Mueller comes knocking.

We got the NJ Senator Tuesday outside the Supreme Court building, and he unloaded on the President's SCOTUS pick ... saying the Trump stands to benefit most. Booker points out Mueller is waging a legal battle to get permission to interview POTUS for his investigation into whether Russia meddled with the election.

The Senator thinks that's where Kavanaugh could end up being Trump's ace in the hole ... because Mueller's legal war could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

11:10 AM PT -- A spokesperson for the Trump Organization tells TMZ, "Mr. Cintron was at all times paid generously and in accordance with the law. Once the facts come out we expect to be fully vindicated in court."

The man who drove Donald Trump everywhere before he was President says he was getting financially screwed for years ... and now he's looking for the big payback.

Noel Cintron says he was Trump's personal driver for more than 20 years until the Secret Service took that gig in 2016 -- and he says the last "meaningful" raise he got was more than a decade ago.

According to a lawsuit, Noel says he was making $62,700 per year and, in 2006, he got bumped up to $68,000. Great, right? Well, Noel says he got another raise in 2010, but this time Trump pulled a fast one on him.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, he says his salary jumped up to $75k annually -- but, at the same time, he was forced to surrender his health benefits, which he says saved the Trump Corporation nearly $18k per year.

Noel also claims to have worked about 3,300 hours of uncompensated overtime during his last 6 years on the job. Based on Noel's OT rate, he says he'd be owed about $178k ... just for the overtime.

Michael Cohen's getting it from both sides as New Yorkers give him an earful over potentially flipping on President Trump.

We got Trump's former personal attorney in NYC Monday, and asked him if he was preparing to cooperate with federal prosecutors. He seemed to be hinting at that when he told ABC News he puts his loyalty to family and country ahead of Trump.

Cohen didn't say much, but people around him did. You gotta see his face when a passerby yells, "Don't be a rat!"

President Trump ought to be ashamed of how easy it is for anyone -- maybe even the Russians -- to infiltrate the White House ... so claims "Stuttering John" Melendez who says he did exactly that.

We got John out in the San Fernando Valley Sunday and talked to him about the prank call heard 'round the world. ICYMI ... John -- a former fixture on the 'Howard Stern Show' -- prank-called the White House by posing as Sen. Bob Menendez. John says the Prez's son-in-law Jared Kushner himself patched the call through, allegedly connecting the comedian with 45 who was aboard Air Force One.

John -- who also claims his prank call triggered a visit from Secret Service over the weekend -- says, at the very least, he's exposed a huge security gap within this White House, which has reportedly been scrambling to figure out how this happened.

Judge Joe Brown says President Trump should steer clear of picking a reality TV judge for the soon-to-be vacant SCOTUS seat ... 'cause most of 'em wouldn't come close to cutting it.

We spoke to the now-retired judge a day after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was resigning from his post on the Supreme Court, leaving Trump to make a new appointment.

During initial speculation of who the Prez might choose, some journos and pundits half-joked he'd go the TV route, since that's what he knows. Joe says that likely won't happen ... and he has his reasons.

He doesn't specify who exactly he's referring to, but you gotta assume Judy's off that list. She's definitely legit. Ditto People's Court Judge Marilyn, who was a sitting judge before taking the TV gig.

Jax has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform at the White House on Independence Day, and nothing's going to stop her ... despite the inevitable backlash for hangin' with Donald Trump.

The Season 14 "American Idol" finalist tells TMZ she finds it sad people can't separate politics from patriotism because she has a lot of the latter ... and for good reasons.

For Jax, her upcoming performance is all about honoring her country and her family -- her younger bro is a Marine and her dad was a 9/11 first responder -- she says it's not at all about POTUS.

Anthony Scaramucci says he knows a lot ... he knows who Trump will pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, and he knows the fate of Roe vs. Wade.

We got The Mooch Wednesday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, and he seems to be saying Trump or his people have confided in him about the person who will get nominated. He says he believes Thomas Hardiman (Mooch mispronounces his name) will be the guy. Hardiman's on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ... that's where Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, sat and she's a big fan of Hardiman's.

He's got an interesting background ... he's the first in his fam to graduate college. He drove a taxi to pay tuition. He's also super conservative.

Ice Cube says Michael Rapaport deserves a trip to the White House for his heroics on a flight after a BIG3 game over the weekend ... and he's sending a message directly to Donald Trump.

As we previously reported, Rapaport (the BIG3 sideline reporter) saw a man trying to open the emergency exit door Saturday -- IN-FLIGHT -- and sprung into action to make sure the door stayed shut!

Rapaport credited BIG3 players Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Baron Davis with the assist.

So, when we saw BIG3 honcho Ice Cube at LAX (on his way to Friday's game in Chicago), we asked if he considered Rap to be a hero ... and wondered how he should be rewarded.

"Trump ... invite him to the White House," Cube said ... "Stop bullsh*tting!

Janelle Monae didn't mince words while voicing her displeasure with President Trump's treatment of children at the border.

We got the singer/actress leaving Mr Chow Sunday night in Bev Hills, and she went off when we asked about Rep. Maxine Waters calling for people to confront Trump officials in public. Y'know ... a la Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Red Hen in Virginia.