White House

Melania Trump is being accused of plagiarizing material from the Obama administration, but the First Lady is firing back ... saying it's not what it seems.

Melania launched her "Be Best" initiative -- promoting online safety for kids -- Monday at the White House, but she's catching heat because the pamphlet attached to her campaign is a nearly exact copy of a pamphlet published in 2014 ... while Michelle and Barack Obama were in the White House.

The pamphlet's cover, text and images under the Obama era are almost exactly the same as Melania's version. The text inside the pamphlets are the same.

Melania's office responded to the backlash and told us, "Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within." Her office went on to say the Federal Trade Commission, which originally authored the pamphlet, was excited Melania included it in her campaign.

The White House website initially said the material was written "by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission." After the backlash, it's been changed to "a Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump."

Stevie Wonder doesn't have time to waste thinking over Kanye West's ridiculous views on slavery -- ditto for President Trump's proposed race summit, actually.

We got Stevie Saturday at LAX and asked what he thought of 'Ye's controversial comment -- ya know, that slavery must've been a choice black people made after a certain point.

You can tell the he's not having it with Kanye's POV -- he even says as much by calling it "foolishness" ... adding that if you know your history, you don't listen to such BS.

PGA star Bubba Watson says President Trump will get crushed if they ever play golf again, because Bubba gives NO ONE -- and he means NO ONE -- a free ride on the links, even the Commander-in-Chief.

We got Bubba out in NYC and asked if he ever played with Trump, which he told our guy he did ... way BEFORE Trump moved into the White House.

"2006. I met him on his gold course and played a couple holes with him."

We had to ask Bubba, now that Trump's the top man, do you maybe drop a few holes so the leader of the free world feels good about himself?

"No, I would never let him win. If he beats me he beats me. No not at all, 'cause then I could tell everybody I beat the President."

Donald Trump just shouted out Kanye West during his speech at the NRA Convention ... for giving him a boost in the polls with black people.

The Prez thanked Kanye in front of the huge audience in Dallas, telling them the rapper must have some power because he doubled his support from African-Americans ... according to a new poll.

Trump's citing a recent Reuters poll that says 22 percent of black males approve of the job he's doing as President -- doubling his last approval rating of 11 percent. It's unclear from the poll how black females feel.

As we reported ... the bro fest between Kanye and Trump has been going on for nearly 2 weeks. The rapper has voiced his love of the Prez, and even rocked a MAGA hat.

Clearly, the feeling of love is mutual ... at least for now.

3:00 PM PT -- We did some digging into the Reuters poll Trump was quoting, and turns out the 11 percent boost is based on polling only black men, for what it's worth. We also checked several other polls -- of men and women -- and there was still an increase, but only about 4 percent.

A famous Trump-friendly pastor says Colin Kaepernick and others with a voice on the subject of race are cordially invited to a proposed White House summit, with the centerpiece being Kanye West.

We got Darrell Scott Wednesday at Reagan National Airport and asked if he was, in fact, talking to the President about hosting a summit on race relations at the White House, which has apparently gotten fast-tracked thanks to Kanye's professed love for 45.

Scott says it's all true. But it's not just Ye he wants at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. -- he says his camp has reached out to Kaep as well.

Donald Trump's going to have even more questions to answer about his relationship with Stormy Daniels now ... and it's all thanks to Rudy Giuliani.

The former NYC mayor was being interviewed by Sean Hannity Wednesday night when the 2 began discussing Trump's "hush" agreement with Daniels ... and the $130k Michael Cohen has admitted to paying her to keep quiet about her alleged tryst with the Prez.

Giuliani was making the case everything that went down was perfectly legal, but then dropped a bombshell by claiming Trump reimbursed Cohen the money ... despite the President's repeated denial of ever knowing anything about the $130k "hush" deal.

Julius Erving says he's not hurt by Kanye West's comments about slavery being a choice -- he's more hurt by comments that have come out of Donald Trump's White House.

We spotted the NBA Hall of Famer at Ronald Reagan airport in Virginia on Wednesday -- and with such an extensive background in civil rights activism, we had to ask about the Kanye West interview on "TMZ Live."

"He's entitled to his opinion," Erving said.

As for the impact of Kanye's statements on slavery, Erving explained -- "It doesn't hurt me personally because he's only one individual."

"It hurts more to hear things that are coming out of the White House."

Anthony Scaramucci says comedian Michelle Wolf crossed the line when she went after Sarah Huckabee Sanders' looks at the White House Correspondents' Dinner ... calling the roast ridiculous.

We got the Mooch outside Catch Monday night and he had a lot to say about Michelle's 20-minute set that saw her gut Trump's administration ... including his press secretary, who was sitting just a few feet from Michelle.

If ya haven't seen it ... Michelle told Sarah, "I loved you as Aunt Lydia in 'The Handmaid's Tale.'" And Michelle was just getting started.

Stop riding Kanye West for supporting Donald Trump ... that's the message NBA star Iman Shumpert has for all the haters coming after the rapper this week.

FYI, Shumpert has a Kanye connection -- his wife, Teyana Taylor, is signed to West's G.O.O.D. Music record label and has an album coming out this summer.

So, with the backlash against West in full swing ... we wanted to know where Shumpert stood.

"I'm a Kanye fan," Shumpert said.

"Long before meeting my wife and knowing the relationship to Ye that she has as far as being signed, I have always walked with him throughout the commotion that he makes."

Shumpert says he's cool with Kanye wearing the MAGA hat -- and says it doesn't mean Kanye agrees with EVERYTHING Trump has to say.

He also really liked Kanye's freestyle with Harvey Levin.

There's more ... Shumpert also talked to us about his reality show "Teyana and Iman" (airs Monday night on VH1) and told us why his family has an edge on the Kardashians!

Billy Bush says George H.W. Bush probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon -- 'cause he's been to the hospital bed and back before ... plus, he's got jelly jars to mug for.

We got Billy hanging with his kids Sunday at Pacific Park in Santa Monica, where we asked how his uncle was doing after being hospitalized just a day after Barbara Bush's funeral.

He says the POTUS 41 is "solid" -- noting he was hospitalized 5 years ago, and came back from that just fine. Billy also makes a prediction about H.W.'s short-term and long-term life goals -- namely, a potential plan to be the (literal) face of Smucker's. Give it 7 years.

Everyone who thinks Kanye West's red MAGA hat photo also features a man flashing an alt-right symbol needs to chill, because it's not true.

The man giving the OK sign -- which many believe is a gesture used by the alt-right or white supremacists -- is YouTube's Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen ... but it's not even an OK sign to him.

A rep for YouTube tells us ... Cohen's gesture is meant to represent the company he founded -- 300 Entertainment -- and nothing more. He's also done it several times before.

As we reported ... Kanye's been on the Trump Train Wednesday, sending out several tweets about his love for the Prez, including the provocative selfie with Cohen and Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music.

Charlamagne Tha God's officially NOT on board with Kanye West making a run for the White House, because he says the last thing America needs is another Celebrity-in-Chief.

We got "The Breakfast Club" co-host leaving Barnes & Noble in NYC Wednesday, and asked him about Kanye crowning Charlamagne "The New Oprah." The compliment comes on the heels of Charlamagne sitting down with Ye last week ... but CTG told us why he's rejecting that comparison.

He's also got a strong message for everyone calling him after Kanye said someone's offering $10 mil for his interview with Charlamagne.

As for Yeezy publicly embracing Trump and talking about his own run for Prez ... Charlamagne had a lot of praise for Kanye the rapper ... but definitely NOT for Kanye the politician.

By the way -- we got CTG on the way out of a book signing for his "Black Privilege" -- he might not want to be Oprah, but he's already a NYT Best Seller.

Steve Scalise wishes he could be out on the baseball field with his GOP pals almost a year after he was shot at the Congressional baseball team practice -- and he also has advice for Kanye West on his future run for Prez.

We got the Republican House Majority Whip Wednesday at Reagan National Airport, and asked what he thought of Sen. Jeff Flake and other members of the GOP holding their first practice since a gunman opened fire. Scalise suffered severe internal bleeding from a gunshot to his hip.

Steve, who was walking with minor support from crutches, said he's glad Congress is keeping up the tradition and hopes to get back out there himself soon.

In regards to Kanye -- who's publicly reaffirming his love for President Trump -- Scalise sounded excited to have West's backing.

He did have one request for Kanye though ... IF the rapper's serious about getting into politics, himself. It has do with his timing, and it seems like 'Ye is fully on board with Rep. Scalise's plan.

Another member of the Philadelphia Eagles' 2017 Super Bowl team says he's not planning on going to Trump's White House with the team ... this time it's linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

"Me personally, I wouldn't go," Ellerbe says ... noting, "I've already been before."

Ellerbe -- who's now a free agent -- is referring to the Super Bowl ring he won as a member of the 2012 Baltimore Ravens team. That squad visited then-President Barack Obama.

But, several Eagles players have stated they're not feeling the current President and will not attend the ceremony at 1600 Penn ... including Torrey Smith, Chris Long and Malcolm Jenkins.

Plus, it recently came out that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had made some anti-Trump comments -- calling his presidency, "disastrous."

Sean Spicer is back to repping a Trump, but this time it's the First Lady, Melania, as a wax figure at Madame Tussauds in New York City.

Spicer is launching the "Give Melania a Voice" experience at the wax museum this Wednesday. It's Madame Tussauds' first wax figure of the First Lady and it'll be interactive, which might explain why Spicer is doing the honor.

Visitors will be able to tweet on Melania's behalf from a tweeting station nearby, which will then go live to a FLOMT (First Lady of Madame Tussauds) account.

Spicer will also participate in a Q&A at the unveiling about his time in the White House, but is keeping it short, just like an ol' White House press conference. The whole event is expected to last 15 minutes.

Former president George H.W. Bush has been hospitalized in Houston, just one day after his wife of 73 years was laid to rest.

A Bush rep says he contracted an infection that spread to his blood. The 93-year-old former President has suffered a variety of health problems, including pneumonia back in January 2017. He also suffers from vascular parkinsonism ... a rare syndrome that mimics Parkinson's disease.