White House

Kanye West just got schooled on what a 5:00 PM deadline means in Wisconsin -- in one judge's view ... which, for now, is keeping Ye off the ballot there, and it's all over 14 seconds.

A circuit court magistrate ruled this week that Kanye was, in fact, too late by submitting his nomination docs last month to get his name on the ballot come November ... even though his team got it in 14 seconds after 5 o'clock, which they felt was still inside the window.

Not the case, so says Judge John Zakowski. Hizzoner writes, "The court believes at the time a grandfather clock rings out five times is the moment it is 5 p.m. Any time after that is precisely that: after 5 p.m." Oof, tough crowd. But wait, there's more to his rationale.

Judge Zakowski goes on to explain ... "The court used the analogy of midnight. There is significant difference between 11:59:59 p.m. and one second after midnight. The passage of a second after midnight confers an entirely new day." Hmmm, we suppose he has a point.

In other words, a late registration from Kanye ... quite literally. And thus, he isn't eligible to rock the vote on November 3rd. That said, Ye could take one last shot in this legal fight.

There's the option of appealing to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and if Kanye and co. do that ... they might actually have a more favorable ruling. Fact is, a majority of those justices lean conservative -- and they could interpret the deadline rules a little differently.

Considering Wisconsin is a big swing state in this election ... he might wanna consider it. Not only that, but Dems there are already trying to rally the base with some cool celeb appearances -- namely, a 'Parks & Rec' Q&A session this month with a bulk of the cast. The goal is getting Wisconsin folks to vote.

Marco Rubio's weighing in on President Trump's threat to defund schools that use "The 1619 Project," saying POTUS is misguided -- but he's also challenging the project's view of American history.

We got the Florida Senator at Reagan National Airport in D.C. Thursday, and he initially sided with Trump when he said he believes '1619' is "historically flawed" ... telling us the country was founded in 1776, not 1619.

It's interesting, though, because Rubio doesn't seem to oppose the goal of the project ... which is telling the full truth about slavery being at the center of U.S. history.

Marco admits generations of U.S. leaders have not lived up to the promise of equality in our Declaration of Independence, and concedes the '1619 Project' isn't all bad.

Thursday, the creator of '1619,' Nikole Hannah-Jones, told us Trump doesn't have the power to defund schools, despite his threats, and blasted him for misleading the public in order to stoke more racial division.

President Trump's threat to defund schools implementing the "1619 Project" in history classes is just another divisive election tactic, but he's fighting a losing battle ... so says the creator of the progressive U.S. history initiative.

Nikole Hannah-Jones is the investigative journalist directing '1619,' and she's pushing back on the President's opposition of the project by suggesting he has racial motives ... and not the best interest of the U.S. in mind, as he has claimed.

Nikole joined "TMZ Live" to clarify what the project is all about, and quell the notion being stirred by Trump and others that it's a mission to change history and make people hate America.

Instead, she says its goal is to help Americans learn from their true history -- starting with the year African slaves were first brought to U.S. soil. Nikole says learning the truth about something rarely taught in traditional history classes will provide the perspective Americans need to strive toward the ideals upon which the country was founded.

Just as importantly, she says it will help Americans better understand why millions are marching and protesting today for social justice.

Nikole also points out that despite Trump's threats, he's powerless to direct what is taught in schools ... and can't pull funding as he's threatened to do in California.

"The truth is, the '1619 Project' is already being put into practice in many schools across the country, teaching students about the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans to the nation's history."

Ice Cube has a list of demands to help Black Americans that he feels needs to be addressed in order to get his vote ... and says both sides of the aisle want to, at least, hear what he's got to say.

We spoke to Cube Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and he elaborated on his "Contract with Black America" that he's been promoting these past few months ahead of the election. Bottom line ... he says he'll vote for whoever implements his ideas, even if it's President Trump.

Check it out ... for Cube, identity politics is gone, and he's only looking out for his people at this point -- telling us that if a candidate doesn't clearly explain what's in it for the Black community if they're elected, he doesn't see a point in voting for them.

Specifically, he says economics is a huge part of his agenda -- explaining that there needs to be a monumental shift in the wealth gap between Black people and everyone else.

Now, Cube says he's heard from Joe Biden's camp AND Trump's about his 'Contract' ... and insists there's nothing partisan about his demands.

There's also this ... he says Biden should not think for a second he has the Black vote locked up. Fact is, Trump is still in office and could roll some of these things out before November, which would go a long way for Cube, and possibly other voters.

It's a fascinating take, and Cube is determined to hold Trump and Biden's feet to the fire.

President Trump not only broke political precedent by holding the Republican National Convention at The White House ... he also ran up a fat landscaping bill by damaging the grounds.

The South Lawn and iconic Rose Garden were getting a makeover Tuesday, almost 2 weeks after the RNC wrapped up there, reportedly leaving the grounds a muddy mess. And, the new landscaping's gonna cost a cool $79,675 ... TMZ has learned.

According to the federal docs we obtained ... the National Park Service hired a lawn servicing company to do the resodding, and they have until the end of the month to get the job done. According to the Washington Post ... the Trump Campaign is picking up the bill.

Makes sense ... Trump became the first president to accept his party's nomination at the WH, and gave his acceptance speech last Thursday night right on the South Lawn in front of about 1,500 supporters.

At the time, the mostly mask-free crowd raised concerns about COVID-19.

Turns out the more tangible damage being done was under the feet off the President's GOP faithful.

You'll recall, the RNC was originally scheduled to go down in Charlotte, before the pandemic forced the GOP to attempt it in Jacksonville. When that fell through, Trump decided to do it in D.C. ... with the White House as his backdrop.

Here's a shocker for 54 percent of the country ... President Trump opened a Bible (that's not the shocker), signed his name in it, and now the good book could now be worth nearly $40k. There it is.

Yes, as Trump would almost certainly put it, you can now buy your "favorite President's" favorite book ... which our sources tell us he autographed during a very turbulent week in the nation, and particularly in Washington, D.C.

We're told he signed it at the White House during the first week of June, just a couple of days after he'd ordered federal law enforcement to fire pepper spray and rubber bullets at peaceful George Floyd protesters ... just to clear a path for him to St. John's Episcopal Church.

You'll recall he posed there for a now-infamous photo op with a Bible ... although that's not the one he signed.

The autographed Bible is going up for sale through the memorabilia company, Moments In Time -- and they're hawking this slice of Trump history for a cool $37,500.

Just the way God intended.

We kid, but Trump's critics might be expecting a lightning strike, because although he's often declared the Bible is his favorite book -- he's declined to name a favorite chapter or verse ... or even weigh in on the Old vs. New Testament debate.

Presidents have a long history of signing Bibles, but the practice has historically been done when presenting it as a gift with a spiritual message written inside.

Joe Exotic's team is heading back to our nation's capital for another shot at getting the Tiger King pardoned by President Trump ... and this time, they got an in at the White House.

Sources tell TMZ ... Joe's squad of attorneys and advocates will be flying to Washington D.C. Wednesday to hand-deliver a copy of their official pardon request to a contact they have at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The hope it seems ... to get the pardon request in front of Trump, and we're told Eric Love -- who's leading the team -- has a contact within the White House, so it would seem this might be their best chance yet to get DT to listen.

Not just that, but it would appear the Joe Exotic squad has more Trump allies than just one -- here's a photo of Eric with Brad Parscale, 45's head of digital operations for his campaign. Eric and the team met Brad in Texas recently, but also ... he's not the contact they have at the White House. Still, knowing BP can't hurt their odds!

Remember, Love and co. rolled up to D.C. a few months ago in a huge bus with a 'Pardon Joe Exotic' wrap. It doesn't appear that venture was all that successful -- Trump hasn't pardoned the guy after all -- but we know Joe's on Trump's radar.

Harry Shearer is definitely trying to poke the bear that is Donald Trump with a hilarious spoof album that's got the President singing show tunes ... and kissing Jared Kushner's butt.

The legendary voice actor and comedian -- who's played countless characters on "The Simpsons" -- came on "TMZ Live" to talk about his new album, "The Many Moods of Donald Trump," which he's been teasing with new single drops throughout the summer.

His first one was a banger -- it's called "Son in Law" ... and it's all about singing the virtues Jared. It also features Harry playing DT (with some incredible motion-capture animation tech) as he goes through a show-stopping number in the Oval Office. It's an awesome music video.

Now, as for whether this one was aimed at Donnie or Jared, Harry tells us they can split his mockery right down the middle. And, as far as praise, HS says the ultimate compliment would be if 45 himself hate tweets about 'TMMDT.' That'd be like hitting #1 on the charts!

President Trump once hired a Black actor to impersonate Barack Obama, just so he could get him in his office and fire him "Apprentice" style ... and the whole thing is on video.

The scene was reportedly filmed around 2013, and was supposed to air during the 2016 RNC -- but it never saw the light of day ... until just recently, that is. It's cringey -- you see Trump bring his "Faux-Bama" into his office in Trump Tower, and belittle him to no end.

Check it out ... in the clip, you see the actor who is no doubt supposed to be Barack sitting there and just taking Trump's disparaging comments -- which range from bashing his job rates numbers, criticizing how he's handled the economy ... and mentioning how often he golfs.

In the end, DT, sure enough, dishes out his signature slogan ... and BO is sent on his way.

It's awful, frankly, but apparently ... this is something the RNC seriously considered running. At any rate, it's just an example of how much disdain Trump has for Obama ... so claims his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, who recounted this anecdote in his new book.

The book -- 'Disloyal: A Memoir' -- also included a photo of Trump filming the scene with the Black actor he hired ... simply to humiliate on camera. In other words, yeah ... this happened.

Cohen's book is set to be published for the masses Tuesday, and it reportedly contains several other damning stories about the President, including alleged racist remarks and other sordid comments.

Kanye West's campaign has spent millions trying to get his name on ballots from a bunch of states -- and most of the loot has gone to companies specializing in just that ... but which also have tangential ties to President Trump.

Ye's campaign filed its first financial report Friday with the FEC, and if you tally up his disbursements (what he/his campaign have spent personally) ... it comes to just under $6 million. If you go into the raw data, you can see exactly what he's spent and on what.

Between July and August, Ye and co. spent a little over $4 million on ballot access services -- sending hundreds of thousands to a handful of orgs that ... well, help someone get on a ballot (and quickly). There are three main LLCs he's gone to repeatedly, and some are headed up by guys that either used to work for Trump's campaign ... or were trying to.

One of the ballot companies Kanye hired is Fortified Consulting -- which, according to the Washington Post, has the same address of a consulting firm called the Lincoln Strategy Group ... run by a dude named Nathan Sproul, who worked on DT's 2016 campaign.

Here's another ... Ye dished out about a mil to a company called Atlas Strategy Group -- which is led by another guy named Gregg Keller ... who interviewed to be Trump's campaign manager in 2016. Interestingly, one other BAS company he used was one recently used by Pete Buttigieg ... Millennial Strategies based out of NYC. So ... not total bad optics, right???

Fact is, the money trail appears to lend at least some credence to the theory Kanye has allowed his campaign to be infiltrated by GOP operatives ... Trump ones, at that.

It's not a wonderful day in Mister Rogers' neighborhood, at least not when Donald Trump's in it ... so says his widow, who's got some choice of words for the President.

Joanne Rogers ripped Trump a new one after he decided to host his latest rally in Fred's hometown of Latrobe, PA -- which reportedly broke COVID-19 protocols by hosting more people than the legal limit set at 250 ... instead, the crowd was 7,000 strong.

She tells the Daily Beast she thinks Trump's a "horrible person," adding that she'd probably go into mourning if he's re-elected come November. Joanne says Trump's such a liar she can't trust anything he says, even the smallest thing.

Then comes a scathing line ... "This man is pathologically ill. Mentally ill." BTW, Joanne is a big Biden fan -- saying he's not too old at age 77 (she's 92), adding any gaffes Biden makes while speaking in public are probably a result of a stuttering issue he had when he was younger, rather than any mental ineptitude, as the Trump campaign has often suggested.

Kanye West's bid to appear on the ballot for president in Kentucky and Mississippi is in the works ... but he's not reached the finish line just yet.

The Kentucky Secretary of State's Office says Kanye submitted petitions Friday to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for prez.

State elections officials say they're still reviewing around 19,000 petition signatures submitted by Kanye, to determine if he qualifies to appear on the ballot. Ye needs 5,000 signatures from registered Kentucky voters.

Kanye also filed paperwork Friday to get on the ballot as an independent in Mississippi, according to the Secretary of State's Office in the Magnolia State, which says a decision on whether or not his petition is accepted or denied won't be finalized until Tuesday.

BTW ... Kentucky has 8 electoral votes and Mississippi has 6 electoral votes.

Kanye's attempts to get on the ballots in KY and MS come on the heels of a Thursday ruling from a judge in Arizona, barring him from appearing on the ballot in the swing state despite spending a fortune collecting signatures.

UFC boss Dana White personally called President Trump to ask for help in saving an Iranian wrestling champ who is set to be executed ... and POTUS has already taken action.

As we previously reported, 27-year-old Navid Afkari received TWO death sentences for allegedly participating in a peaceful protest against the government back in 2018.

Afkari is a decorated wrestler in Iran who has medaled in multiple national tournaments, according to several reports.

When White learned about the situation, the UFC honcho says he felt compelled to do something because "he's one of us, could be any one of my fighters."

"The only thing I thought to do was to call the President and see if he could help this man," White says.

"[Trump] said, 'Let us look into it, let me talk to my administration and see if there's something we can do to save his life.'"

President Trump went to Twitter to address Iran's leadership.

"Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkarai, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets. They were protesting the 'country’s worsening economic situation and inflation.'"

He continued, "To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man’s life, and not execute him."

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are breaking into the digital space like never before ... infiltrating Animal Crossing to reach a younger demographic, which is kinda genius.

The Biden-Harris campaign linked up with Nintendo to make some virtual merch available for the first time on their uber-popular game Tuesday, which 'New Horizons' users can now cop. IYKYK ... frankly, AC folks are always looking for new ways to spruce up their islands.

Among some of the items you can now swoop up -- via specific QR codes -- are three different Joe Biden campaign signs, which you can throw out onto your in-game lawn, PLUS ... an American flag-themed aviator glasses sign, which is another signature Biden token.

Of course, you can customize your character's look -- and some folks have recreated Kamala and Joe in the game itself. So yeah, your island can now feature some political ideologies ... something Animal Crossing hadn't broached before.

A rep for the campaign says they wanted to take advantage of a platform that literally reaches millions and which facilitates community. They add, "As we enter the final campaign stretch towards November, this is one way we are finding new creative and innovative ways to meet voters where they are and bring our supporters together."

President Trump says cops who use deadly force and shoot someone are exactly like nervous golfers who can't sink the last shot ... seriously, he compared the two.

DT sat down for an interview with FOX News' Laura Ingraham Monday night, and while discussing high-profile police incidents lately -- especially with Black men -- Trump brought up Jacob Blake ... saying the officer who fired 7 times might as well have been Tiger Woods on a bad day.

It was so outrageous and tone-deaf, even Ingraham tried to steer him away, but Trump stuck to his guns ... and said cops who use lethal force are like golfers who "choke."

Trump did question whether the Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey, could've done something else other than shoot -- like tackling him -- but the comparison he made is still shocking and utterly lacking in empathy. As you know, Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.

Kanye West says claims the President or the GOP are paying him to run a spoiler campaign are laughable, because he's already wealthier than Donald Trump!

Ye recently sat down with Nick Cannon to do a segment on his podcast, "Cannon's Class," and it looks like they got to talking about controversy they've both been embroiled in recently -- Nick's anti-Semitic remarks and Kanye's presidential run.

Nick says folks have accused Kanye of being a mere puppet of the Republican Party -- and some have even speculated they're shelling out big dough to keep Ye's political ship afloat. Well, he had a perfect comeback for that ... and it came at the expense of his pal, Donald.

You'll have to watch yourself to see how Kanye worded it, 'cause it definitely got a laugh out of Nick (us too, frankly). Bottom line though ... Ye says he's virtually un-bribable.

Nick gets to another point -- which will be explored more when the full episode comes out Tuesday -- and it touches on whether Kanye believes he can actually win this thing ... and whether it's reasonable for him to be running at all. In response, another zinger from Ye.