White House

Rudy Giuliani is coming out swinging for President Trump over his recent attacks on late Senator John McCain ... telling us Trump's furious over McCain's role in distributing the salacious Steele dossier.

We got Rudy at Reagan National in D.C. Wednesday, and our photog asked about Trump bashing McCain 7 months after his death. The President's personal attorney strongly defends his boss, and tells us why Trump's still pissed at McCain.

As you know ... Trump's been blasting McCain all week, even taking credit for the Republican's moving Washington funeral and complaining about not receiving a "thank you."

Trump's latest round of attacks allege that McCain turned over the dossier to the FBI and the media before the 2016 election. Rudy says that's what's further driving a wedge between Trump and McCain.

'Breakfast Club' host Angela Yee isn't shying away from having President Trump on the hip-hop radio show -- in fact, she's already got her questions lined up.

Angela expanded on the interview she, DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God did with FOX News this week, where they were asked if they'd be open to having DT come on the show. She doubled down with us, saying sure ... but they're not gonna reach out.

Seeing how the Prez's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, entertained the idea further by encouraging an appearance, Angela gave us a taste of what she and the team might ask.

Hint ... they're tough questions the Prez has been able to duck and dodge in a press conference setting, but would be incredibly difficult to evade in a radio setting. And, they're valid questions too -- ranging from his Central Park Five history to Obama himself.

But, because Trump has a history of censoring the media -- or at least trying to -- it doesn't sound like Angela is holding her breath for a possible face-to-face.

Donald Trump is showing some serious insecurity over the border wall, because he wants an affirmation from his die-hard supporters before he puts pen to paper and vetoes the legislation rejecting his border wall emergency proclamation.

The President blasted out a poll to his email subscribers shortly after the Senate voted Thursday 59-41 to put the kibosh on Trump's declaration of national emergency, asking their opinion on whether he exercises his first veto as Prez.

If he can't get support from the people who say he can do no wrong, well ...

And, check out how he loads the vote -- "Friend, President Trump will not let this National Security and Humanitarian Nightmare continue. Liberals in the Senate just voted against a National Emergency."

Looks like there are at least 12 Republicans who aren't on board -- the Republican Senators who joined Democrats in defying Trump ... something not mentioned in the email.

POTUS already made his intentions clear when he tweeted "VETO!" right after the Senate motion passed, so the poll is not just ridiculous ... it's superfluous.

He'll get his way this time, 'cause there aren't enough votes in Congress to override a veto.

Stay tuned.

12:27 PM PT -- A sketch artist caught Manafort in court Wednesday.

10:00 AM PT -- Manafort just got hit with 16 NEW charges in an NYC indictment tied to a mortgage fraud scheme. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says Manafort will now face 16 felonies for alleged residential mortgage fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records ... to name just a few.

What's that thing about raining and pouring? It's a monsoon for Manafort.

Paul Manafort is nearly doubling his time behind bars -- another judge just sentenced him to an extra 43 months .... nearly 4 more years in the pen.

President Trump's former campaign manager went through his second sentencing Wednesday in D.C., where a judge presided over the criminal case Robert Mueller's office prosecuted. Manafort got an additional 43 months in prison ... on top of the tax and bank fraud sentence he got last week.

You'll recall ... Manafort got 47 months in that matter. This additional time will bring his full prison sentence to 7 1/2 years.

This second case includes 2 conspiracy charges. Federal prosecutors accused Manafort of witness tampering and obstruction of justice after he was released on bail ... saying he urged 2 witnesses to commit perjury in his defense.

That got him sent back to the slammer, where he's been ever since last June. For the record ... Manafort pled guilty to the 2 conspiracy charges.

Manafort apologized for his crimes during Wednesday's sentencing -- he read a statement from his wheelchair, and begged the judge to "let my wife and I be together." He reminded the judge that he is about to turn 70, and his wife is 66.

Manafort actually got sentenced to 73 months, but the judge allowed 30 of them to be served concurrently with the 47 months for fraud.

3/8 -- Manafort appeared in his inmate jumpsuit in court, and the scene was captured by a sketch artist inside.

Paul Manafort is going away for a little while -- a judge just sentenced him to 47 months in prison ... which means he could be a free man again relatively soon.

President Trump's former campaign chair was sentenced Thursday after being found guilty on 8 criminal counts, ranging from tax fraud to bank fraud ... not to mention laundering more than $18 million to fuel his lavish lifestyle.

Manafort was facing a maximum of 80 years in prison, but federal prosecutors recommended he get up to 25 years. Clearly, the 69-year-old caught a huge break with the judge.

As we reported ... Manafort's charges stemmed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential Russian collusion with the Trump campaign leading up to the 2016 election.

The sentencing is the climax of Manafort's tumble from political power -- the FBI raided his house in VA and seized tons of documents ... he was eventually indicted on multiple federal charges, and surrendered to the FBI.

Although he was out on bail, he got sent back to jail for violating his bail conditions. Mueller's office accused him of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors say he urged 2 witnesses in his case to commit perjury in his defense.

Manafort's been sitting in solitary confinement since June -- and, reportedly, he's mostly been doing it in a wheelchair or using a cane due to his declining health. His lawyers said in court filings he's battling gout.

The big question is will Trump pardon Manafort?

Michael Cohen says Donald Trump left him and high dry the second things got hot, and went back on a promise to cover all of Cohen's legal fees related to the Mueller investigation.

Cohen just filed a lawsuit against the Trump Organization for more than a million bucks -- money he says was supposed to be paid to his lawyers. In the suit, Cohen says shortly after he was first subpoenaed, Donald's co. agreed to cover all of his attorney's fees.

That was in July 2017, and Cohen says all seemed to be going well. In October, his attorneys got a check for $137,460 from the Trump Org. -- and that continued until May 2018. He says Trump's company eventually covered $1.7 million of his legal expenses.

But, when Trump's former right-hand man flipped in June 2018 ... the relationship soured. Funny how that goes. Trump started distancing himself from Cohen. In fact, Cohen recalls his former boss saying in June, "I haven't spoken to Michael in a long time. He's not my lawyer anymore."

According to the suit, the well ran dry that same month ... and Cohen says a total of $1,037,868 remains unpaid to his high-powered law firm. Most attorneys frown upon working for free, and Cohen says they indeed pulled out ... which hurt his case.

Remember, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax fraud and campaign finance violations.

Donald Trump thought he landed a nice jab at Hillary Clinton by basking in her decision not to run in 2020 -- but looks like she's getting the last laugh ... and Regina George would love it!

DT took the first shot Tuesday, tweeting -- naturally -- his response to "Crooked" Hillary not running ... "'Aw-shucks, does that mean I won’t get to run against her again? She will be sorely missed!"

Hillary did promise to continue fighting for what she believes in ... and looks like giving Trump the business is on that list. After his Twitter-diss she clapped back "Mean Girls" style.

She posted a classic GIF of Rachel McAdams' character asking Janis why she's so obsessed with her. Hard to argue with that -- years after his 2016 victory, POTUS never passes up an opportunity to reference her ... and never glowingly.

Funny enough, a Twitter account for the Embassy of Israel responded to the Ayatollah with the same thing when the Iranian dictator went on a tirade against the country.

Donald Trump treated ANOTHER college football team to a fast food spread at the White House on Monday -- with the North Dakota State squad getting Chick-fil-A and McDonald's on a silver platter!

The NDSU Bison football team was invited to Trump's White House to celebrate winning the FCS Championship with a 38-24 win over Eastern Washington back in January.

The team reportedly wasn't expecting ANY food during the trip -- but after the success Trump had with the Clemson football team back in January, he decided to break out the fast food again!

You can see in the photo ... the spread was loaded with Big Macs and chicken sandwiches.

Remember when Clemson visited, Trump served up McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King AND pizza to celebrate their national championship win over Alabama.

At the time, Trump explained the menu by saying, "I would think that's their favorite food."

The food was a hit -- with Clemson's star QB Trevor Lawrence telling TMZ Sports, "It was awesome. We had McDonald's and everything. It was good."

The NDSU Bison have won the FCS Championship 7 times in the last 8 years -- but this is the first time they've gone to the White House.

Before the trip, head coach Matt Entz told the Grand Forks Herald ... "This isn’t a political trip, this is a Bison trip and, personally, I sold it as two things: It’s one more opportunity for the 2018 team to be together, but also in my mind the start of the 2019 season and the things we’re going to do together."

The big question ... how did the food go over with the players?

President Trump finally made it to Vietnam -- but he did it using a ton of taxpayer dollars ... and got a whole lot of nothin' out of it from North Korea.

TMZ did some digging on the cost of Trump's second summit with Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, and turns out it was at least $1.3 million ... much of which went toward putting Americans up for a couple of nights and making sure they were cozy.

According to federal procurement docs -- obtained by TMZ -- lodging alone for Trump and co. during the two-day summit -- which wrapped Thursday without a deal on nukes or sanctions -- ran Uncle Sam upwards of $632k between 3 hotels and miscellaneous costs.

The State Dept. footed the majority of that lodging bill, including a separate $157k for lodging at the Melia Hanoi Hotel -- where Kim Jong-un stayed and where the American press corp was staying as well ... before getting booted by Kim's camp.

According to reports, Kim became uneasy with the American press in such close proximity ... so they were ultimately moved to a new hotel.

But, wait ... there's more!!!

The conference rooms alone where Trump and Kim couldn't come to terms cost $316k, and things like lights, stereo systems, drapes and awnings ran about $100k all together. The Dept. of Defense dropped about $60k for leased internet lines.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen want to test Donald Trump's theory that there will be riots in the street if he loses the 2020 election.

We got John and Chrissy Wednesday night in Bev Hills leaving Madeo, and asked what they made of Michael Cohen saying Trump once told him black people would never vote for him because they're too stupid -- among other incredibly racist things. JL & CT didn't bat an eye.

According to John, it's been well-established Trump doesn't like African-Americans and exhibits racist tendencies time and again.

12:53 PM PT -- The Trump Campaign spokesperson, Kayleigh McEnany, has issued a statement about Cohen's testimony, stating, "Michael Cohen is a felon, a disbarred lawyer, and a convicted perjurer, who lied to both Congress and the Special Counsel in a 'deliberate and premeditated' fashion according to the Special Counsel's Office. Now he offers what he says is evidence, but the only support for that is his own testimony, which has proven before to be worthless."

She continued, "Prosecutors said his actions were to ensure that he would 'profit personally, build his own power, and enhance his level of influence.' This is the same Michael Cohen who has admitted that he lied to Congress previously. Why did they even bother to swear him in this time?"

We got Michael Cohen arriving at the United States Capitol as he prepares to testify before Congress about the misdeeds of Donald Trump.

Our photog notices Cohen seemed calm. The photog knew he wasn't going to get a preview of the testimony, so instead, he asked what music Cohen listened to in preparation for the big day.

Cohen will say some shocking things about Donald Trump when he testifies at 10 AM ET before the House Oversight Committee. He calls Trump a racist, a conman and a cheat.

Among the things he'll say ... "He once asked me if I could name a country run by a black person that wasn't a 'shithole.' This was when Barack Obama was President of the United States."

He adds, "While we were once driving through a struggling neighborhood in Chicago, he commented that only black people could live that way. And, he told me that black people would never vote for him because they were too stupid."

He will also submit letters he says he wrote at Trump's direction, threatening high schools and colleges not to release his grades or SAT scores.

And, Cohen will submit a check that Trump wrote to him for $35,000 as re-payment for the Stormy Daniels hush money payment.

Cohen also says he lied to Melania about his affair with Stormy -- at Trump's behest -- and says it's one of his biggest regrets.

Samuel L. Jackson says Donald Trump was spot-on when he bragged he's done more for African Americans than Presidents past ... and it's all thanks to Trump's massive "plantation."

We got Samuel L. Monday at LAX and asked him about Trump's shot at Spike Lee in which Trump said, "Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres!"

Jackson shot back ... essentially calling Trump a slave owner.

President Barack Obama was quick to show love for Zion Williamson after watching him suffer an injury 30 seconds into the Duke vs. NC game ... wishing the college star a speedy recovery.

You've heard about it by now ... Zion's Nike shoe blew out shortly after tip-off Wednesday night, resulting in a mild knee sprain. Obama was sitting in the front row when it all went down.

"Zion Williamson seems like an outstanding young man as well as an outstanding basketball player," #44 tweeted after the game. "Wishing him a speedy recovery."

It didn't take an expert lip reader to figure out Obama's reaction to the injury -- cameras captured Barack's shocked look while he mouthed the words, "His shoe broke!"

LeBron James -- who's also a big fan of Zion -- tweeted out support for the young star as well, saying, "Hope young fella is ok! Literally blew thru his [shoe]."

The freak injury didn't stop Obama from being fan-friendly with the Cameron Crazies ... dappin' up all the folks who packed into the crowded arena for the big game.

Check out the footage we got from inside the arena showing Barack posing for pics before the game -- and meeting fans throughout the night.

The Blue Devils ended up losing 88-72 without their superstar ... and Zion's status will be evaluated on Thursday.

Being president is pretty cool ... but Barack Obama's biggest accomplishment came on the hardwood ... 'cause 44 says he's the man behind Stephen Curry's dangerous jumper!!

Obama and Curry hosted a town hall meeting for the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance in Oakland on Tuesday ... and naturally, Barry had to let the jokes fly when introducing the 2-time MVP.

"Even Bulls fans have to acknowledge that it's been fun to watch the Warriors and the greatest shooter of all time -- because I gave him some tips right before, about 5 seasons ago, there's film of this in the White House."

Steph doubled down on the quip ... saying Obama fixed his "chicken wing" jumper as well as his resume ... calling him "the best mentor" (which might not be a joke).

The duo traded zingers before getting serious about helping minority youth in America, the work their MBK Alliance has accomplished in the 5 years of its existence ... and what needs to happen moving forward.

Steph Curry and Barack Obama's bromance took another step forward with a dinner date ... although Ayesha Curry and a couple o' Legends were there too.

The Currys sat down with 44 for a serious power dinner Monday night in San Francisco at Ayesha's restaurant, International Smoke. Her collaborator and chef, Michael Mina, posed with the smiling trio and shouted out Barack, saying ... "No greater privilege than to cook for this man on Presidents Day. Thank you for the highest honor @barackobama!"

The star power at the dinner table didn't stop there -- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen showed up to make it a fab fivesome. Chrissy also shared a shot of herself enjoying a drink with Chef Michael.

You'll recall, Steph set up a meeting last month in Washington, D.C. between his BFF and his Golden State Warriors teammates ... who opted out of meeting President Trump to celebrate their NBA Championship.

As for why they're all in the Bay Area ... Barack, Steph and John are all taking part in the My Brother's Keeper conference in Oakland, aimed at supporting boys and young men of color. It's being hosted by the Obama Foundation.

Good eats, good cause ... good times!

Donald Trump's old golfing buddy, George Lopez, is not down with POTUS' new, $50k golf simulator at the White House ... telling TMZ Sports the guy should be focusing on his job, not his stroke.

ICYMI -- The Donald recently had a room-sized golf simulator installed in the personal quarters at 1600 Penn ... and it's reportedly a big upgrade from what Barack Obama had during his presidency.

G Lo -- who has hit the links with Trump prior to becoming #45 -- tells us the move is "unnecessary" ... and Trump should put his time into fixing the country's issues.

"This fool needs to stop napping 60 percent of the time and he needs to get to work, because this is some bullsh*t that's going on," Lopez says.

"It's a bad look."

George never holds back when he talks about 45. He's been critical of the Prez since he went from reality star to candidate, and even went as far as to fake pee on his Hollywood Star last year.