White House

We know Mayor Pete Buttigieg likes to rock out, and if he wins the presidency in 2020 ... sounds like he's down to jam for an extended amount of time after he's sworn in.

Buttigieg was leaving NBC's 30 Rock in NYC Thursday morn when we asked who his dream performers would be at his inauguration ... seems he hasn't really thought about it too much. TBH, that IS a looooong ways down the road.

Still, our guy makes a suggestion -- based on what we know about Pete's musical preferences -- and we're thinking it'll get some fans phired up. If the band's interested, Buttigieg is too.

BTW -- Mayor Pete's been blasting some Phish tracks on the campaign trail ... including the deep cut "Tweezer - Reprise" from their 1992 album "A Picture of Nectar." It's a good jam.

Ivanka Trump's doing her best to blend in with locals in Ethiopia, and that means busting out her best dance moves -- and, so far, the locals seem impressed! Or, maybe they're just being polite.

Ivanka touched down in the East African nation Monday and during a reception, she didn't hesitate to get loose on the floor -- putting her hips, shoulders and arms into it as she danced with one energetic guy -- and, at least, seemed to be having a great time.

President Trump's senior adviser, and daughter, is on a 4-day trip to Africa -- hitting Ivory Coast as well as Ethiopia -- to promote a global women's project for economic development. While the trip got off to a fun start ...you gotta wonder if her father's infamous words will come up at some point.

You'll recall, the Prez once used the term "shithole countries" to describe African nations.

J Alexander, aka Miss J, is ready to throw support behind Mayor Pete Buttigieg, but wants him to know the LGBTQ community expects his in return ... on every level, with no excuses.

The "America's Next Top Model" coach was at the Strand Book Store in NYC Tuesday when he told us his thoughts on the rising star in the Democratic primary field, who happens to be openly gay.

Miss J believes Pete's got what it takes to win votes -- even from anti-gay voters -- but strongly hopes he does it by continuing to be inclusive and do work on behalf of all LGBTQ folks.

J even calls for his people to "band together" for the South Bend, Indiana mayor, because he believes if they get him in the White House ... real differences can be made.

Meanwhile, Mayor Pete got a dose of homophobia Tuesday in Iowa from a couple of protesters, including one chanting "Remember Sodom and Gomorrah!" You'll recall Pete told us he was prepared to handle these sorts of attacks during the campaign, and he did just that.

Michelle Obama condemned President Trump but in doing so took a swipe at divorced dads ... and she's catching heat for it.

The former First Lady was promoting her new memoir "Becoming" in London when she struggled to find a metaphor describing America's fascination with Donald Trump -- a fascination that turned bad.

You hear Stephen Colbert -- who moderated Michelle's chat -- tee off first, and then she launches, equating America's troubles with that of a teenager who spends the weekend with his/her divorced dad who makes things fun at first and then gets the youngster sick.

The fallout from the video -- obtained by The Independent -- was immediate as people, especially divorced dads, took offense at the intimation divorced dads are somehow lesser than divorced moms.

Someone tweeted, "I admire @MichelleObama, but I really wish she wouldn't use divorced dads as a metaphor for Trump. I hear some of them are quite awesome." Someone else said, "As a divorced dad, I do my best to raise my son into a kind of man of which we all can be proud. Your comment doesn't help people see that I'm conscientious and competent to do a good job."

It gets worse ... someone who actually liked Obama and disliked Trump said, "You've shown that you can say just as rude and insensitive comments as Trump."

Michelle Obama was living the good life -- sipping wine on a dinner cruise in Paris -- when the Notre Dame Cathedral fire totally changed the mood ... and the course of the cruise.

The former First Lady was smiling as she boarded the Ducasse sur Seine Monday night -- just across from the Eiffel Tower -- for a dinner cruise experience along the Seine River with famous chef Alain Ducasse and others.

Michelle looked fit for a fancy, fun night on the luxury ship ... but things took a turn for the worse when word got around Notre Dame was going up in flames. As you can see in the pics ... everybody's happy faces turn concerned for the famed cathedral and the people of Paris.

We're told the boat's captain ultimately made the decision to take a different route than planned for the cruise to avoid the Notre Dame fire ... and dinner was still served.

As we reported ... the cathedral is still standing after the massive fire, but the restoration process will be long and difficult.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg is already getting tons of support from Hollywood in his bid for the White House ... celebs are donating to his Presidential campaign right out of the gate.

We sifted through 2019 Federal Election Commission filings to see which celebs are opening their wallets for Mayor Pete and found contributions are pouring in since he officially announced his candidacy over the weekend.

Jane Lynch is leading the way after throwing down $2,700 ... while Mandy Moore and Bradley Whitford each plunked down $2,000 and Pedro Pascal tossed in $1,500.

Ryan Reynolds is also backing Mayor Pete from the jump ... the A-list actor chipped in $250. We haven't seen Ryan publicly support the South Bend Mayor, but his donation proves he's at least curious about what he's selling.

Ditto for one of the famous Kennedy clan. We found three separate $250 donations from Caroline Kennedy ... daughter of President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

The openly gay mayor is also getting some financial support from the LGBT community ... openly gay comedian Guy Branum cut a $500 check and Chaz Bono made 3 donations totaling $650.

President Donald Trump was so impressed with Tiger Woods amazing performance at The Masters -- he's giving the golfer the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Medal is the highest award that can be awarded to a civilian in the United States and has previous recipients include Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Pope John Paul II, Bob Hope and more.

According to the White House, the Medal "recognizes those individuals who have made 'an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.'"

In his announcement (read: tweet), Trump said, "Spoke to @TigerWoods to congratulate him on the great victory he had in yesterday’s @TheMasters, & to inform him that because of his incredible Success & Comeback in Sports (Golf) and, more importantly, LIFE, I will be presenting him with the PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM!"

Trump and Tiger have been friends for years -- Tiger recently golfed with the President back in February at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida.

Of course, Tiger's victory wasn't just impressive on its own -- but is being hailed as one of the greatest professional comebacks in all of pro sports considering he hadn't won a Major in over 10 years.

What's more interesting than watching Tiger Woods lock up a historic win at The Masters??

GOLF WITH THE PRESIDENT ... at least, that was the case for Dallas Cowboys legends Emmitt Smith and Tony Romo, who bailed on watching Tiger to play 18 with Barack Obama!!

It all went down somewhere in Texas this weekend ... when Emmitt, Romo, Barack and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk hit the links for a round of golf.

Unclear who in the foursome took the win ... but odds favor Tony -- who's so good, he's set to play in next month's AT&T Byron Nelson Tournament with PGA pros.

As for ditching El Tigre ... don't worry -- seems the guys made it back in time to catch his unbelievable Masters victory, with Obama personally congratulating the golf legend.

"To come back and win the Masters after all the highs and lows is a testament to excellence, grit, and determination."

Mayor Pete Buttigieg isn't fooling himself ... Donald Trump will target him with homophobic remarks as the 2020 Presidential campaign heats up.

The openly gay South Bend Mayor, who has soared in popularity, will appear on "TMZ Live" Monday ... the day after he formally announces his bid to make a move to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Buttigieg has a plan if Trump goes low ... confront and disengage.

The Mayor will tackle a variety of issues on "TMZ Live", from courting voters who may have predisposed views of gays, to the consequences people should face if they cheat to get their kids into college.

And, hint ... he plays a respectable guitar!!!

Buttigieg is expected to make a formal announcement he's running on Sunday.

7:16 AM PT -- The U.S. Justice Department has accused Assange of conspiring with Chelsea Manning to hack a classified Pentagon computer.

Pam Anderson is enraged with Britain, The United States and President Trump after the arrest of her close friend Julian Assange.

Assange was arrested Thursday at the Ecuadorean Embassy in the UK after the country withdrew his asylum. Anderson went on a tear on Twitter Thursday morning, saying, "How could you Ecuador? (Because he exposed you). How could you UK.? Of course - you are America's bitch and you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit bulls**t."

Pamela then turned her attention to The United States, tweeting, "And the USA? This toxic coward of a President. He needs to rally his base? You are selfish and cruel. You have taken the entire world backwards. You are devils and liars and thieves. And you will ROTT. And WE WILL RISE."

It was during an August interview with Harvey Levin on OBJECTified when Anderson revealed she and Assange had a very tight relationship.

The two have remained in constant contact while he remained in the Ecuadorean embassy.

Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is standing by his plan to cut every citizen a monthly check -- just for being over 18 -- and says it's a necessity to help American workers who keep losing jobs to robots.

The NY entrepreneur broke down his "freedom dividend" plan Wednesday on "TMZ Live" ... telling us the $1,000 monthly stipend to all adults won't make people lazy -- in fact, he says it's the exact opposite.

Watch ... Andrew says there's cold hard proof his proposed plan will make people want to work, get an education and improve the economy -- and you don't have to look beyond our borders to find it.

The candidate also addressed any comparisons to Donald Trump -- a businessman with no previous political experience. His bottom line -- the current POTUS doesn't represent every entrepreneur, and Yang's sure he can do better.

If you think Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney is voting for Mayor Pete Buttigieg just because they're both gay, you're dead wrong -- instead, Maloney's sticking with Beto O'Rourke.

We got Rep. Maloney Tuesday afternoon on Capitol Hill, and got his take on the Democratic mayor outta South Bend, Indiana ... who is making waves even before officially announcing he's running for Prez in 2020.

SPM showers Mayor Pete with tons of props, but shuns the notion he, or anyone else, should vote for a candidate just because they have similar backgrounds. We also asked Maloney -- who became NY's first openly gay Congressman in 2012 -- if he thinks the country is ready for a gay president, and he has strong feelings about that.

But, mostly ... the Congressman hammered home why he's throwing his support behind Beto. Point being ... just because a candidate's gay doesn't mean he'll automatically get the gay community's vote.

OG 'Queer Eye' cast member Carson Kressley seconds that emotion.

President Trump tried turning D.C. into Gotham with a little help from the music featured in one of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies ... but the bat signal was cut off quick.

DT posted a well-produced dramatic video on his Twitter feed Tuesday afternoon that hyped up his MAGA slogan and was basically fodder for his base -- but it also used one of the orchestral tunes in "The Dark Knight Rises" ... ya know, one of the epic ones.

And, of course, Trump slugged his tweet, "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

The problem ... Trump stole Hans Zimmer's music, "Why Do We Fall?" The tune belongs to the movie studio behind "The Dark Knight Rises" ... Warner Bros.

At some point early Wednesday morning, Twitter removed the video ... citing a complaint from the copyright holder, WB. A WB honcho publicly said shortly afterward the studio hadn't authorized the White House to use its Bat tune.

Carson Kressley seems to be ecstatic an openly gay man will likely run for POTUS -- but don't get it twisted ... that ain't gonna be the deciding factor for him in the voting booth.

We got the OG 'Queer Eye' cast member leaving LAX Tuesday and asked him about Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who's been leading South Bend, IN since 2012 and who's picking up major momentum in the quest to take on Trump.

Our question ... will gay people vote for the guy just because he's gay?

Carson says he certainly hopes not. He says Pete checks all the boxes for him on his merit and experience, and that should be the standard for supporting any candidate.

That said ... Carson says he gets why some gay people might automatically be Team Pete. It's a huge deal to have someone repping the LGBTQ community at this level.

Rep. Ilhan Omar isn't retreating after receiving a death threat from a Donald Trump supporter or even continued attacks from the Prez himself ... who, by the way, she's praying for.

We got the Minnesota congresswoman at Reagan National Airport Monday after a tumultuous weekend, during which a man was criminally charged for threatening to kill her, and the President himself put her on blast again at an event in front of Jewish Americans.

Our photog asked how she's holding up, and Rep. Omar seems to be keeping it together ... telling us she sees more importance in showing up to work than ever.

She also drops an interesting tidbit about how she's dealing with Trump's renewed accusations of anti-Semitism. Rep. Omar's appealing to a higher power -- something she alluded to on Twitter ... but hits home here with us.

As we reported ... Rep. Omar has come under fire these past few months for comments that many people labeled as anti-Semitic. The increased scrutiny has required extra security at events she's attended lately.

Democratic Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang wants to soften the perception he's taking a hard stance against circumcisions, and as we learned ... it's no laughing matter to him.

We got the NY entrepreneur Wednesday afternoon in Times Square and asked him to clear up his position on circumcision. If you haven't heard ... Yang made headlines last month when he said he opposed the practice.

Andrew says everyone who is on his jock needs to cut him a break. The candidate told us people have twisted his words, because his official position simply isn't that cut and dry. He cleared things up with our photog, and made it known ... he meant no offense to his Jewish homies.

One last tip: Watch all the way to the end, you'll get a glimpse of the candidate's sense of humor. Then again, maybe our guy's just not that funny.