White House

The man arrested for claiming he had a bomb in his car at the White House Saturday night was apparently testing security ... this after several major lapses.

Sean Patrick Keoughan approached a police officer near a White House entry point and told him, "There's a bomb in the trunk." The 29-year-old went on to say "this a test!" and was immediately tackled and taken into custody.

The 2017 Chevy Impala Keoughan was driving had been reported stolen in Virginia.

Senator Ted Cruz says all the fence jumping and security breaches at the White House lately must come to an end ... but he says it's not a new phenomenon -- it happened with Obama, too.

We got the Texas senator Sunday in D.C., and he makes it clear the multiple security breaches have got to stop, but he seems to have faith in the Secret Service to find a solution.

We know other members of Congress are outraged at the breaches and squarely blame the Secret Service for being asleep at the wheel.

A man drove up to a White House checkpoint this weekend claiming to have a bomb in his car ... marking the 3rd time in a week someone has tried breaching the grounds.

The Secret Service arrested the latest would-be intruder late Saturday night.

He was immediately taken into custody, and the White House was put on high alert. Surrounding streets were closed through the night. His vehicle was searched ... there is no confirmation if anything was found.

President Trump was not home at the time -- he's in Mar-a-Lago this weekend.

Earlier the same day, another man tried jumping over a bike rack in front of the White House. Last Saturday, a man actually jumped the White House fence and remained undetected for about 20 minutes ... getting right up to the building and even trying to jiggle doorknobs.

10:23 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the man who breached the White House fence Friday had not been on the Secret Service's radar, and had no criminal history.

A man wearing a backpack was arrested by the Secret Service after he breached the White House fence late Friday night ... while Donald Trump was inside the building.

The man was discovered by a Secret Service agent just before midnight by the south entrance of the White House, and was promptly taken into custody.

No hazardous materials were found in his backpack, and a search on the grounds yielded no further signs of danger.

Trump, who was home at the time, was notified of the breach ... prompting the White House to be placed under extremely tight security.

Tom Hanks doesn't want the White House press corps sleeping on Donald Trump, so he took precautions to prevent just that ... with espresso.

ABC White House correspondent Karen Travers thanked Hanks Thursday for the brand new espresso machine he sent for her colleagues in the West Wing.

Tom attached a note, telling the press corps to "keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Especially for the Truth part."

We know what it looks like, but ... Tom also did this during Dubya and Obama's administrations.

Stay woke!

Kellyanne Conway shouldn't be crucified for getting casual in the Oval Office ... at least according to the designer of the couch on which she knelt.

Interior designer Kenneth Blasingame -- who styled George W. Bush's Oval Office -- tells TMZ he's nowhere near offended Kellyanne put her pumps all over his old boss' couch ... and neither should anyone else.

Blasingame says while he considers the space "sacred," it doesn't mean Kellyanne isn't entitled to an informal moment there ... since there's been plenty in its long history.

Funny thing though ... Kenneth tells us Bush ran a tight ship when it came to visitors in his Oval Office -- i.e. no blue jeans, and suit jacket required.

But, when it comes to Kellyanne's faux pas in front of reps from HBCU ... BFD.

Donald Trump thinks Hillary Clinton was a disaster on foreign policy and health care, but he clearly thinks she knows her drapes.

One of the first orders of business for the Trump Administration was to take down the fiery red drapes that flanked President Obama in the Oval Office. The replacement ... the very same drapes Hillary Clinton chose for her husband back in 1993.

The gold fabric endured throughout the Clinton presidency, but went into storage when George W. chose a deeper color, more in the brown than gold family. President Obama went code red.

When Hillary chose the drapes, she said she picked the color because she wanted the Oval Office to be "more dynamic, to show more energy."

Trump's taste is non-partisan ... he's also re-installed Reagan's sunbeam rug and W's gold brocade sofas.

As for Trump's penchant for gold ... well, check out his NYC pad.

Ellen DeGeneres' face was apparently ID enough to get her past White House security with a bunch of other celebs getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ellen says she forgot her ID and couldn't get inside for the ceremony, yet there she was next to Robert De Niro, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jordan, Diana Ross, Tom Hanks and many more.

We're guessing someone recognized her. Once inside they all did the obligatory Mannequin Challenge. Yeah, it's getting old hat, but this one's got the Boss ... so, pretty cool.

Prez Obama SAYS Kendrick Lamar would kick Drake's ass in a rap battle, but our leader showed some serious Canadian love Saturday night at The White House.

Obama co-hosted "Love & Happiness: A Musical Experience" with BET.

A paparazzo was in place at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave to record the whole thing ... Usher.

Who knew being President could be so much fun.

The Denver Broncos hit up the White House moments ago ... and President Obama wasted no time doing his best Peyton Manning -- dropping a few "Omahas" for the squad.

The clip's pretty funny ... Obama roasts everyone from Von Miller to kicker Brandon McManus ... and jokes that he might be able to play WR for the Broncos.

Hillary Clinton did what all modern-day presidential candidates do to stand out ... appear on "Saturday Night Live" ... but we gotta say, this one really is a stand out.

Hillary was playing a bartender named Val, who serves up booze to Kate McKinnon, who's playing Hillary.

It's hilarious ... Hillary nailed it.

Jay Z? Kanye West? Lil Wayne? Nope, not one of those prolific rappers has ever performed at the White House, but after yesterday's performance ... Big Sean can say he has.

Alongside pop pixie Ariana Grande, Big Sean took the stage at The 2014 Easter Egg Roll on Monday. Our photog in D.C. caught the pair on their way into the event, where he was understandably excited for the show.

While Common performed poetry at the White House back in 2011, no rapper has ever performed a White House event ... until now.

Tom Brokaw is a bully ... so says Lindsay Lohan ... who's telling friends the legendary journalist's harsh comments about her ruining last year's White House Correspondent's dinner were totally uncalled for.

Brokaw refused to attend the gala this week, claiming LiLo ruined it for him simply by showing up last year.

According to our LiLo sources, LL isn't particularly bothered by negative comments -- BUT does feel the newsman is publicly picking on her for no good reason ... and that's just plain mean.

We're told if invited again, LiLo would be happy to go. She had a great time last year as Greta Van Susteren's guest and everyone was super nice to her, including Rick Santorum who took a photo.

So here's a song Tom can listen to, while NOT attending the event ...

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were at the White House today ... where they stood in the presence (of the portrait) of the first black president ... William Jefferson Clinton.

The Miami Heat superstars also got a congratulatory handshake from a living, breathing Barack Obama for winning the NBA Championship ... which also must have been exciting ... right?

While they didn't announce their candidacy, Bey & Jay -- along with Tina Knowles, Trey Songz and the rest of their entourage -- did snap a couple of pics inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

'EXTRA's' AJ Calloway spoke to George Clooney at this weekend's White House Correspondents Dinner.

The Oscar-winner, who was in Washington for a rally against the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan, laughed off speculation of a future in politics.

Check local listings for when 'EXTRA' airs.

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