White House

President Trump has surfaced with great news -- the whole country will be getting the COVID-19 vaccine next spring, unless you live in NY ... where all you're getting is screwed by the Trump v. Cuomo war.

The President made his first public remarks since the election, Friday at the White House ... and proudly announced Operation Warp Speed is ready to distribute Pfizer's vaccine as soon as it gets FDA approval. He's projecting delivery will begin in April.

Great news, right? Well, POTUS also served up a side dish of petty with the vaccine. He said NY state will NOT be getting the vaccine because Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he doesn't want it.

Trump was referring to comments the Gov. has made about not trusting a vaccine if the Trump administration rushes its approval. Well, The Prez is taking him at his word, and went on to rip Cuomo for his COVID-19 response in the Empire State.

The good news for NYers is there's still time for both men to squash the beef, and Trump did say everything could change if Cuomo calls and asks for the vaccine. Translation: Kiss the ring, then you'll get the meds.

However, the Governor's Office tells TMZ, "Trump has failed with his pandemic response, lied to the Americans about how bad it was when he knew otherwise & was fired by voters for his incompetence. Governor Cuomo is fighting to ensure the communities hit hardest by COVID get the vaccine."

Doesn't sound like an attempt to make peace.

The wild card, of course, is President-elect Joe Biden, who it appears WILL be in the Oval Office come April -- so, maybe Cuomo doesn't see a need to bow to Trump.

While Trump did not take any questions from reporters, he did make one reference to the election, saying, "This administration will not be going to a lockdown. Who knows which administration it will be ... I guess time will tell."

It's the closest he's come to acknowledging defeat, but still ... NOT a concession speech.

Claudia Jordan thinks Donald Trump was always cool to her because he wanted to get in her pants, and now she's comparing him to folks like Thomas Jefferson. That's NOT a Presidential reference, either.

The "Celebrity Apprentice" alum opened up about her reality show days with Trump while on the latest edition of the Political Junkeez podcast. It's no secret she hates DT now, but back then she says they got along fine enough -- but added that was only "because he wanted to f**k."

Now, she didn't accuse him of trying anything untoward -- sounds like it was more of a vibe she got from Trump -- but did say no one should take his admiration for her as a sign he's not racist.

In fact, she compared him to slave owners who had sex with their slaves.

Claudia competed on seasons 2 and 6 of "Celebrity Apprentice," but also knew Trump from her days in the Miss USA competition.

As soon as President Trump is no longer the U.S. President, he needs to answer for his alleged criminal activity ... according to Congressman Eric Swalwell, who has a proposal on how to make that happen.

The Democratic Representative from California says 45's day of reckoning must come -- along with his enablers -- for what he says they've done to the country, which is why he wants to create a 'Presidential Crimes Commission.'

Swalwell says ideally, this group would be made up of independent prosecutors outside Congress who would be responsible for determining if the President or senior officials broke the law during their term, and if so ... they'd go after them.

The Congressman says the goal is to make sure nobody, not even POTUS, is above the law and gets away with any offenses. As for what crimes he'd want the PCC to take a look at with Trump ... there's a laundry list, but obstructing justice and sabotaging the mail are top of mind for Swalwell.

Currently, Swalwell believes the Prez is committing another transgression by not cooperating with President-elect Joe Biden during the transition period ... something Trump's press secretary won't even talk about.

Barack Obama is ripping Donald Trump and Republicans for continuing to make baseless claims of a fraudulent election ... he says it's a very slippery slope.

The former president broke his silence on Trump's unfounded claims of voter fraud in an interview with "60 Minutes," telling Scott Pelley he's troubled by the large number of Republicans going along with Trump's claims and humoring him.

Obama says Republicans are not only trying to delegitimize president-elect Joe Biden and his incoming administration, but also democracy in general.

What's more, Obama says what Trump and the GOP are doing is putting America on "a dangerous path."

Barack Obama's time in The White House was full of challenges ... not the least of which he says was his relationship with the First Lady.

The former Prez opens up about his 8 years in office in an upcoming memoir called "A Promised Land" ... and one of his most interesting anecdotes is about how the Presidency took a toll on Michelle.

Obama says he could sense an "undercurrent of tension in her, subtle but constant," despite her own achievements and growing popularity ... and their roles in America's First Family amplified all of the stress involved.

Barack says ... "It was as if, confined as we were within the walls of the White House, all her previous sources of frustration became more concentrated, more vivid, whether it was my round the clock absorption with work, or the way politics exposed our family to scrutiny and attacks, or the tendency of even friends and family members to treat her role as secondary in importance."

He adds that he became wistful many nights while he was lying next to Michelle thinking about the time before he was Prez "when everything between us felt lighter, when her smile was more constant and our love less encumbered, and my heart would suddenly tighten at the thought that those days might not return."

Well here's a new one -- Kayleigh McEnany punted a question about President-elect Joe Biden getting access to intelligent briefings, saying it's a question for The White House ... even though that's literally HER job!!!

The WH Press Secretary's absurd moment went down Thursday morning on "Fox & Friends," when they asked her if President Trump's considering looping Biden in during the transfer of Presidential power.

McEnany says she hasn't spoken to the Prez about that topic, but ... "that would be a question more for The White House."

Puzzled? Yeah, us too. So, we asked a different White House rep what gives, and got this -- "Kayleigh appeared in her personal capacity as a private citizen. She advises the campaign on a voluntary basis."

Oooookay! Now, Kayleigh's paying gig is still Press Secretary -- for the White House -- so, she essentially said ... that would be a question for ME, but at some other time. Welcome to the Twilight Zone. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Talk about awkward situations ... Melania Trump's preparing to spread Christmas cheer at the White House while a ticked off President Trump appears to be in full Grinch mode. Good luck!

A rep for the First Lady tells TMZ ... Melania is, indeed, planning on decorating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. again this year for Christmas, as is tradition. Might seem like a no-brainer -- First Ladies have been doing it for decades -- but the difference now is ... we know it's not one of MT's favorite things.

You'll recall, Melania was recorded in 2018 -- by her then-adviser, Stephanie Wolkoff -- trashing the White House decorating tradition. She said, "Who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff and decoration? But I need to do it, right?"

At the time, the First Lady was frustrated because the media was focusing on child separations at the border, and she apparently felt like no one would give a Fievel's ass about the decorations.

Well, cut to 2020 and there's a new hot button distraction -- her husband seems convinced they're staying put for another 4 years, despite losing the election to Joe Biden.

That begs the question ... does Melania think this will be her final Christmas bow in the White House? It'll be interesting to see her 2020 theme, as it could give some insight into how she's dealing with all this drama.

In light of all that's happened this year, maybe pass on repeating last year's white Christmas. Just a thought.

Joe Biden's team is already talking criminal justice reform with civil rights attorney Ben Crump ... who says he's expecting big things in the first 100 days of Biden's administration.

We got Ben Wednesday at Reagan Airport in D.C., where he told us he's been in touch with President-elect Biden's transition team and VP-elect Kamala Harris. He says some of the conversations have been about preventing tragedies -- that became hashtags in 2020 -- like the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

The way Crump sees it ... America can and must do better, and it's clear he's counting on Biden's administration to make it happen. He also said it would be really hard to do worse than the current administration.

Interestingly, it sounds like he has some ideas for improving the Dept. of Justice's response to cases where racial bias might be at play.

A Pennsylvania politician is fighting off accusations that he's been posing as a gay Black man online to drum up support for Donald Trump ... and boy, this story gets weird.

Dean Browning -- a former Republican commissioner in Lehigh County -- tweeted a bizarre message earlier this week that had folks thinking he screwed up and posted something he meant to throw on to an alternative account he allegedly keeps ... maybe for good reason.

The tweet read, "I'm a black gay guy and I can personally say that Obama did nothing for me, my life only changed a little bit and it was for the worse. Everything is so much better under Trump though. I feel respected - which I never do when Democrats are involved."

The reason this raised eyebrows ... Dean's white, so what gives? At first, many believed Dean was tweeting something he meant to put on what's been described as an alleged "sock puppet" account -- AKA, Dan Purdy, a Twitter account that often replies to Dean, and which identifies as a gay Black man. To some, Purdy's tweets come off as a spam account.

After realizing his tweet had gone viral -- and after taking it down -- Browning came out and denied he was posing as a gay Black man, insisting that the message he tweeted had, in fact, been sent to him from one Dan Purdy ... whom Browning claims is a real person.

Soon after that, a Black man claiming to be the real Dan Purdy stood up ... and recorded a video of himself copping to sending Dean the message and backing up the sentiment of the tweet. That video has since been deleted, but many captured it and circulated it around.

Here's the kicker ... a lot of people are saying this guy who says he's Dan Purdy looks an awful lot like singer Patti LaBelle's nephew, William Holt ... who also goes by Byl Holt. Aside from the striking resemblance, Internet sleuths also noticed Dan and Will appear to use the same avatar for different profiles on social media. So ... a few things line up.

It hasn't been confirmed this is Patti's nephew, but if it is ... what a strange twist to an already confusing situation. Just goes to show (we think) -- don't judge a tweet by its tweeter.

More than 76 million Americans are looking forward to Joe Biden moving into The White House in January ... including The White House residence staff, which, as sources tell us, is now "walking on eggshells."

Sources with connections to the WH residence tell TMZ ... many of the day-to-day workers -- including the cleaning and maintenance crews and the kitchen staff -- can't wait to see him and his administration go.

We're told these staff members have had enough of the constant commotion and media attention Trump brings to the WH because it's created a more negative and stressful environment ... trickling from the top down.

The biggest concern right now ... incurring the wrath of the President. Our sources say the staff knows, one false move and they're toast. Ya gotta keep in mind residences -- the bedrooms and staff areas -- are in pretty close quarters, all connected by one narrow hallway. It's virtually impossible for staff to avoid the First Family and vice versa ... and with the Prez so angry post-election, we're told the tension among staffers is palpable.

Many of the workers have been there for decades, so they already have a history with Biden during his time as Barack Obama's Veep.

By contrast, we're told many of those in Trump's administration present a much stiffer, cold demeanor ... which has rubbed White House regulars the wrong way. As for the President himself ... our sources say he's not rude, but also not as charming as the Presidents preceding him.

And, there's this -- along with Biden comes Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We're told the female White House staffers feel this is a game-changer ... and her presence and representation has built a giddy sense of anticipation.

Obviously, the next couple of months could be a rocky transition period, so we're told workers are focusing on performing their duties as usual, being professional, and keeping their opinions to themselves.

A key piece of evidence the Trump campaign was counting on to prove voter fraud in the election just crumbled ... because the witness is recanting.

A USPS worker who recently claimed he'd overheard a supervisor in Erie, PA tell workers to backdate ballots that arrived after Nov. 3 is now taking it all back, saying he made up the whole thing ... this according to the Washington Post.

The guy's name is Richard Hopkins, and just last week many in the GOP, and beyond, were citing him as a whistleblower. He eventually signed an affidavit about his claim, which is at the crux of much of what Trump's camp has hoisted up as evidence of voter fraud in PA.

Welp, as of Tuesday WaPo says the guy copped to lying during a committee hearing with U.S. lawmakers. The House Oversight Committee tweeted the huge development ... noting it's unclear why he lied in the first place.

Keep in mind, Hopkins' false testimony set off a massive chain of events ... including some of the lawsuits Trump's brought forward, and Attorney General William Barr giving the Dept. of Justice the green light to probe any credible claims of voting irregularities.

All that ... for a lie.

We should note, the Erie Postmaster -- Rob Weisenbach -- flat-out denied the claim early, said Hopkins was full of it, and denied any backdating of ballots at his location whatsoever. He suggested Hopkins was disgruntled, as he'd recently been disciplined many times.

Hopkins' false tale isn't dying easily, though, because ... well it's 2020.

The far-right org Project Veritas claims to have recordings of the guy being intimidated by investigators into taking back his story. We'll see if that comes out, but for now President Trump's voting fraud smoking gun seems to be firing blanks.

The Lt. Gov. of Texas is dangling a very expensive carrot in hopes of finding proof of voter fraud ... but what he's really doing is motivating liars to come out of the woodwork.

Yes, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the crazy announcement Tuesday ... saying he "will pay up to $1 million to incentivize, encourage and reward people to come forward and report voter fraud." He says the cash will come from his campaign fund.

There is a catch ... Patrick says any whistleblowers would have to turn over evidence that leads to an arrest and conviction in order to get paid. Each person who does that will receive at least $25,000 -- so, Patrick is clearly planning to hook dozens of tipsters.

Remember ... Republicans have filed several affidavits and complaints in courts across the country alleging potential voter fraud and unfair elections, but so far, no court has reversed any election results or confirmed the allegations.

Make no mistake, Patrick is scoring points with President Trump, who still refuses to concede to President-elect Joe Biden. Patrick says he supports "Trump's efforts to identify voter fraud in the presidential election and his commitment to making sure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is disqualified."

With $25k up for grabs, we're guessing Patrick will get plenty of people claiming to have the evidence he's seeking -- whether they actually have it or not.

Congressman Jim Clyburn's widely credited with saving Joe Biden's Presidential campaign, but he says Joe shouldn't thank him ... the credit goes to 2 Black women who inspired him.

The distinguished gentleman from South Carolina joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to shed some light on his decision to throw major support behind Biden leading up to the SC primary, which proved pivotal in Joe landing the Democratic nomination.

Clyburn tells us he was already a Biden fan, but he decided to go all out for him to honor his late wife, Emily ... who passed in September 2019. The congressman says his wife absolutely loved Joe, and she made him promise her he'd commit to helping Biden get the nom.

The other Black woman who persuaded Clyburn is anonymous, but his interaction with her was so impactful ... he attributes it to his game-changing endorsement of Biden. The rest, as they say ... is history.

Of course, this all led to Biden becoming President-elect, and Rep. Clyburn seems pretty confident nothing's going to change that ... despite President Trump's efforts.

In fact, Jim seems fed up with all the Trump talk since the election, and reminds us the sitting Prez is just one individual -- one the congressman would like to see put in his place. As he's told us before, if Trump won't leave quietly ... he believes the military will make him.

Finally, on the topic of Georgia and its uber-important Senate races ... Jim has an interesting take on how they could affect Biden's presidency and the Democratic Party as a whole.

President Trump has the right to exhaust every avenue to determine if there was voter fraud in the election, but if nothing turns up, he should exit stage left ... so says the Texas GOP chairman.

Allen West joined "TMZ Live" on Tuesday and said people are getting way ahead of themselves by declaring Joe Biden the President-elect ... not while ballots are still being counted -- or recounted -- in George, Arizona and North Carolina.

West, a former U.S. Congressman and retired Lt. Col., added the voter fraud allegations in Pennsylvania -- so far, unfounded -- also have to play out in court. While West is throwing his support behind team Trump and the audit of ballots, he makes it crystal clear -- if it's ruled a fair and legal election ... Trump has to abide by that.

Obamacare was on the line Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court .... and not only does it seem the justices are inclined to do away with part or all of it -- although there seems to be a good chance the case will be thrown out on technical legal grounds -- there was also talk about another looming issue ... whether the federal government could impose a mandatory mask requirement.

Oral arguments kicked off Tuesday on the issue of whether the ACA's individual mandate is constitutional anymore since a Republican-held Congress removed the tax penalty in 2017. The justices had said previously that the law was grounded in Congress's ability to tax citizens, but now that there's no longer a tax penalty, some of the justices felt there was no longer a legal basis for the law. The Trump administration wants the whole law 86'd, but others say the justices could declare just the mandatory health insurance provision unconstitutional and save the rest of the ACA.

As the groundwork for that was being laid out at the beginning of the hearing, Justice Clarence Thomas raised an illuminating comparison ... asking if a proposed national mask mandate could, for instance, be challenged if there's no real threat of enforcement.

He seemed to be spit-balling, but the fact he chose to hurl that wad specifically in this context was telling, especially since Joe Biden said he would roll out a national mandate.

Back to the ACA ... Justices Kavanaugh and Alito -- both of whom tend to have strict interpretations of the constitution -- appeared to signal they thought removing the mandate and leaving the rest of law in place was something that could feasibly work.

Alito, for example, compared the mandate to a crucial part of a plane that engineers thought, at first, was necessary to fly. But, if that part gets removed once it's in the air, and if the plane continues to fly ... he asked why is it necessary to take the whole thing down? It was pretty insightful -- but time will tell if or how they actually rule on the subject.

One person who was relatively muted throughout Tuesday's proceedings -- and who didn't really show her cards much at all -- was Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the newbie of the group, and the one who could well be the deciding vote to strike the ACA down, or uphold it.

Her questions were brief, and were mostly buried in legalese ... it was hard to pick up what, if anything, she was signaling on how she felt about the merits of the case.

As this case plays out over the next few months, Justice Thomas' question of masks might be setting up another showdown over the legality of mandated mask-wearing ... something we'll definitely keep an eye out for.