White House

#45 just can't get enough of Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence ... 'cause President Donald Trump will be checking out the big College Football Playoff championship game!!!

POTUS -- who witnessed Burrow's Heisman campaign firsthand during the LSU and Alabama game this season -- is expected to hit up the huge match-up between the 2 undefeated teams, according to The New Orleans Advocate.

We know what you're thinking ... and yeah, we're assuming security will be SUPER TIGHT considering the recent developments with Iran. Hell, it better be.

As for the game, it's gonna be AWESOME -- with both #1 LSU and #3 Clemson entering the Jan 13th game undefeated.

Trump has kept a close eye on LSU so far in the CFP ... with Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron saying he got a personal call from the president after trampling all over Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl.

"I was very honored to get a call from President Trump," Coach O told reporters.

"He was very pleasant to talk to. Very complimentary of our football team, our coaching staff. Complimentary of the way the state of Louisiana has rallied around us. Was complimentary of the way we played all year and wished us good luck in the game."

Burrow also previously talked about what it's like to play in front of the Prez ... saying, "Doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, President at the game is pretty cool."

The U.S. drone strike ordered by President Trump in Baghdad -- which killed top Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani -- is captured in new footage from an independent Iraqi television network.

According to Al-Ahed channel ... the blast captured on video is the one that killed General Soleimani along with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, though it's yet to be verified by other major news outlets.

A photo of the aftermath shows a burning vehicle near Baghdad International Airport shortly after the strike, which reportedly included 3 rockets hitting the site. The White House announced the strike had killed Soleimani Thursday night ... 6 people were reportedly killed in total.

The Trump administration viewed the Iranian commander as a ruthless killer, and the President tweeted that Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of millions of people and was plotting to kill more ... but he got caught.

Trump added the general should have been "taken out many years ago."

You'd think Rudy Giuliani would wanna be as far away from anything Ukrainian right now, but even amid Trump's impeachment ... he's coyzing up with one and talking business.

The President's personal lawyer was spotted Sunday at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, where eyewitnesses saw him chatting it up with a couple dudes in suits who appeared to be pitching him on something, seemingly related to shipping, transportation and logistics.

Rudy and a woman he was with were flipping through literature pertaining to CDL 1000 -- a Chicago-based company that specializes in freight transport and tracking technology.

No biggie, right? Of course not, except for the fact that at one point in the presentation, Rudy was shown a slide that clearly read "Disrupt Global Trading." Nothing fishy about that!

What makes the meeting all the more intriguing is that the guy showing him this stuff comes from Ukrainian heritage himself. His name's Andrew Sobko, and he's the CEO of CDL 1000 -- he's also the son of a former Ukrainian boxing champ ... per past interviews he's done.

We called up Andrew and he said he was simply seeking Mr. Giuliani's legal advice on a business matter. However, it's also no secret Rudy's been traveling to Kyiv recently to drum up intel he hopes will clear his boss's name ahead of a looming impeachment trial.

Barack Obama just announced his favorite movies of the year, and it looks like he's a mild fan of the studio he and his wife have partnered with to make cinematic magic.

The former Prez released a list of his top movies of 2019, and they include a ton of indie flicks ... most of which were not produced or distributed by Netflix. That's not to say the company was excluded completely -- four of their movies made it in, including his own.

Of the Netflix titles that were mentioned ... "Marriage Story," "The Irishman," "Atlantics" and the mister and missus's High Ground Productions documentary, "American Factory."

It's one of the first projects Barack and Michelle have produced under their recently announced multi-year deal with Netflix, and it's already gotten tons of praise. The doc's about a shuttered GM plant in Ohio that gets resurrected by a Chinese company, which integrates their own factory workers with Americans in what proves to be a culture clash.

Interestingly, there's more independent movies released under different studios Obama seems to have liked more this year ... like "The Farewell," "The Souvenir," "Ford v Ferrari," "Just Mercy," "'Little Women," "The Last Black Man in San Francisco," "Birds of Passage" and others.

He also released some TV shows he was into, and Netflix made the cut there as well with "Unbelievable." From a bird's-eye view, it looks like 44's got pretty sophisticated taste.

Pete Buttigieg was able to get at least one new Hollywood A-lister to endorse his bid for the presidency -- but his opponent, Bernie Sanders, has him beat in that department.

Kevin Costner showed up to a modest-sized town hall Sunday in Indianola, Iowa and publicly backed the Southbend mayor for Prez ... reportedly telling the crowd of about 1,200 that he didn't wanna tell them who to vote for, but was simply sharing who he supported.

Of course, that's PB. Kevin went on to tout Pete's steady hand among the Democratic contenders, calling him a man of "this moment" and someone who could right the ship.

Kevin then introduced Pete and embraced him in a hug. Pretty cool moment ... but it kinda pales in comparison to the VIP treatment Bernie was met with in L.A. the day before.

Andrew Yang's done his research, and knows there's no way to completely stop foreign interference in elections, but says there's still a right way to respond ... and President Trump ain't cutting it.

In the wake of a strong showing in the latest Democratic Presidential debate ... Yang joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to tell voters why he'll get tough with Vladimir Putin and any other foreign leader who tries to screw with our elections.

Yang said he views Russia's meddling in the 2016 election as an act of hostility and aggression, one he wouldn't take lightly if he's in the Oval.

He's already thinking about who he'll need by his side to get to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. -- as in, who's gonna be his running mate. It's clear Yang's working on a short list, and gave us the criteria for his Veep.

Best of all, Andrew gave us his best Rocky impression.

Something happened during Thursday night's debate that had him feeling very Stallone-esque.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is doubling down on her defiant decision to merely vote "present" to impeach President Trump ... because she firmly believes it was the right call for America.

The Congresswoman from Hawaii tells us she was making a stand by not voting yes or no ... in order to appeal to folks in the center. She says her goal is to bring unity to the country.

Gabbard elaborated though, saying she DOES want Trump out of office and, in her mind, there's a better step Congress can take to rebuke his conduct. As for getting him out of office ... she believes it should be done more conventionally ... by voting him out in 2020.

Keep in mind, Tulsi's still one of the Democratic candidates gunning for the nomination to run against Trump ... so she's taking a big gamble that her stand will pay off.

Donald Trump's John Hancock on a White House reprint of his presidential oath of office definitely sends a message ... and it might fetch a big payday for the guy who got it signed.

The story goes that a State Party Campaign Chairman for Trump asked a friend of his working for the administration to print the oath on White House stationery ... and the friend came through.

The chairman then took the letter to Trump's rally Tuesday night in Hershey, Pennsylvania and asked POTUS to add his autograph ... and he obliged.

The rally, by the way, was the one where the Prez chided a security guard for being too "politically correct" while removing a female protester ... roll the tape.

Anyway, the Trump-signed oath of office is now up for sale -- for a whopping $17,500 -- hot on the heels of the House Judiciary Committee approving articles of impeachment against the Prez.

The site hosting the sale, MomentsInTime.com, says the White House memo will be up for grabs Monday.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn't seem to regret leaving Trump's White House one iota -- because she looks as calm and relaxed as we've seen her since stepping into DT's orbit.

We got the former Press Secretary Saturday at the Reagan Airport in D.C. for a quick catch-up on her life since she resigned from her role back in the summer. While it feels like she did that ages ago, it's only been a few short months -- that's how much has happened since.

Our camera guy jokingly asks how she's enjoying her early "retirement," and it sounds like SHS has no plans to hang it up completely just yet. Word around town is she's ramping up for a gubernatorial run in Arkansas -- where her dad was the gov for a long time.

We asked her about that, and Mrs. Sanders gave us a classic political non-answer answer. She didn't say no though ... so the door's certainly there if she wants to open it in a few years.

Sarah also gives us an update on what she's been up to lately, saying she's spent a lot of much-needed time with her family -- and has enjoyed every minute of it. Then, we get into impeachment ... asking if she's happy not to be part of that mess right now.

Donald and Melania Trump threw a bash at The White House for members of Congress and ... well, let's say it looked liked it snowed in D.C.

The annual Congressional Ball went down Thursday night, although the photos were just released.

45 posed for photos with guests in the Grand Foyer of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Among those who attended ... Democratic Reps. Antonio Delgado (NY.), Susie Lee (Nev.), Elaine Luria (VA.), Jim Costa (CA), Josh Harder (CA) and Gil Cisneros (CA).

As you know the House Judiciary Committee gave its thumb's up Friday to impeachment and sent the 2 articles on to the full House of Reps. All money is on the full House impeaching Trump next week, but it's virtually a foregone conclusion the Senate will not convict him, which means Trump will remain in office.

Donald Trump is still on the Patriots bandwagon ... praising both Robert Kraft and Tom Brady at a White House event Wednesday -- despite the new Pats video scandal.

Kraft was Trump's guest at a special Hanukkah event where the two also spoke about their support for Israel. And, they were joking like two old pals.

"I also want to bring a friend of mine up," Trump said ... "He's a tremendous success in so many other businesses, but they only know him because he signs Tom Brady's check every week!"

POTUS added, "He's a champ, he's a winner."

"As usual, his team is mired in 1st place," Trump continued ... "Have you ever been in 2nd place?"

Obviously, no mention of the new investigation into the Pats -- after the team admitted their video crew broke league rules by filming the Bengals sidelines from the Browns press box.

The NFL is investigating the Patriots. The team has insisted they weren't trying to cheat -- claiming the video crew made an innocent mistake.

Trump and Kraft go back decades -- and while they're on great terms right now, they've had some rocky moments.

As we previously reported, Kraft was critical of the way Trump handled the Colin Kaepernick kneeling situation ... and spoke out against POTUS at a 2017 NFL meeting.

But, clearly, that's all water under the bridge now.

President Trump's reelection campaign apparently likes to think of their boss as an equal to the destroyer of worlds, the villainous Thanos ... but the 'Avengers' character's creator is NOT having it.

A Twitter account managed by Trump's reelection team posted a super-produced clip in which DT's head is superimposed over Thanos' body from 'Infinity War' ... and he snaps his Democratic enemies -- who just introduced articles of impeachment -- to dust.

They captioned the post, "House Democrats can push their sham impeachment all they want. President Trump's re-election is 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲." Funny, right? WRONG ... so says the comic book writer and artist who brought Thanos to life back in 1973. He ain't laughing.

Jim Starlin -- the creator of Thanos -- says he finds it pretty disturbing that Trump's goons are comparing him to a mass murderer -- Thanos literally goes around blowing up planets in "The Avengers." He says, "How sick is that? These are sad and strange times we are going through. Fortunately all things, even national nightmares, eventually come to an end."

Starlin also said he felt violated by the creative hijacking, and said DT has an infantile ego.

Funny enough ... the scene of Thanos snapping that Trump's team used in their hypercut is actually from the part where he dies in the final movie. Spoiler alert ... Tony Stark ends up with all the Infinity Stones, and then snaps Thanos and his henchmen to oblivion.

Soledad O'Brien was right about President Trump getting impeached -- and now, she's here to collect on her bet ... which we'll have to pay her back for later.

We got the veteran TV journalist Tuesday at LAX, and our photog recalled she'd placed a bet with our D.C. guy about whether the Dems would actually go through with impeachment.

You'll recall ... Soledad and our boy pinkie promised on a whopping 5 bills -- dollar bills -- with Soledad taking the over/under on the House pulling the trigger. Obviously, she won and we lost. Pelosi and co. intro'd 2 articles ... abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Fast-forward to Tuesday ... and our cameraman in L.A. was desperately trying to pay up on behalf of his TMZ coworker. Sadly, he came up short by a buck so -- and Soledad wasn't trying to get paid in parts. Don't worry ... our man in D.C. will pay up, SO!!!

Just for kicks, we asked if Soledad wanted to run another bet on whether the Senate would convict -- but she pumped the brakes on that one. It ain't happening, she says.

Rep. Karen Bass has bad news for President Trump if he wins a second term, and especially if the Democrats take back the Senate -- more impeachment, baby!!!

The U.S. congresswoman -- whose 37th district includes parts of L.A. -- was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday, shortly after the House announced the articles of impeachment. Dems in the House allege Trump abused his presidential power and obstructed justice, regarding the whole Ukraine thing.

Two questions we just had to get off our chest. First, if Trump wins reelection next year, does that definitively confirm the American people just don't give a crap about this?

Check out Bass' answer -- she's pretty optimistic about another opponent being able to win, and she's hoping her party can whip up national enthusiasm toward that cause.

Secondly, we asked if Trump does win again -- and if Dems win enough seats to take control of the Senate -- would they try impeaching him again? It's allowed ... there's no double jeopardy in impeachment.

Kamala Harris is no longer in the running for President of the United States -- she says she's bowing out 'cause the money ran out.

The California Senator made the announcement to her staff Tuesday and plans to release a video statement soon. She says the reason for the move -- which she calls "one of the hardest decisions of my life" -- is simple ... her campaign doesn't have the financial resources it needs to continue.

She adds that she's not a billionaire and can't fund her own campaign like some of the others, and it's become too hard to raise the money needed to compete.

The news comes on the heels of Harris canceling a high-profile fundraiser in New York for what was called a "personal matter." Sen. Harris dropping out also comes after recent polls showed she has dropped to sixth place in the Democratic primary ... even behind late entry Michael Bloomberg.

Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, tweeted a message of support as the news broke ... saying he's always got her back.

Senator Harris has had her share of highs and lows since announcing her 2020 presidential candidacy in January ... especially at the debates. A couple of her best moments include the most recent debate, when she declared "Donald Trump got punked" by North Korea.

And, back in the first debate in June, she famously went toe-to-toe with Joe Biden.

However, she also took some heat at an early debate for the way she treated fellow candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

Just to update your scorecards ... with Kamala's departure, there are still a whopping 15 candidates left.

Common has some advice for Pete Buttigieg, and any other Democratic candidate, on how to win the black vote -- be yourself and be present.

The rapper, actor and activist was leaving LAX Monday night when he gave us his 2 cents on Mayor Pete's efforts to get black voters' attention. It's been a focal point for Buttigieg's campaign after polls showed him lagging in that department.

To that point, perhaps, Common told us he doesn't know a lot about Pete specifically -- but he offered some tips, saying it's important to spend time in the community and not just for face time. He said the key is sincere engagement with voters on the issues.

Mayor Pete was down in the Carolinas this past weekend, including a trip to meet students at South Carolina State University. Common also advises ... black folks know a real one when they see it.