White House

Barack Obama's attitude toward his mega birthday bash -- which still looks pretty mega at this point -- seems to pretty much be ... forrrrrreeeeeget about it.

The ex-Prez was seen playing a round of golf Saturday on Martha's Vineyard with pals, not too far from where he'll be holding his big shindig later tonight -- which is still expected to host scores of people ... this in spite of him claiming to have scaled it back.

The apparent contradiction to his announced plans doesn't seem to be bothering BO one bit, though -- 'cause the dude was all smiles on the links.

Check out these pics of 44 fore-ing it up in grey, and taking some big swings on the fairway -- he looks about as polished as ever ... even when he shanks one, which he didn't appear to do a whole lot of here. Looks like he was mindful of blisters, too ... wearing bandages on his gloveless hand.

These are the same good-time vibes we saw at last night's leadup to the party -- where a crap ton of people (upwards of 300, we're told) came out for a pre-game of sorts ... laughing it up at a house Barry seems to have rented for the festivities. This, in addition to the giant tent he has on standby for the night of, we might add.

After a raucous night of fun, it would seem Barack had energy and then some for a game.

As we've reported ... people on the island are pissed over the multi-night gatherings for a number of reasons -- not the least of which include roads being blocked off for locals.

Barack Obama's 60th birthday may have gotten scaled back from a bash to a small shindig ... but it's still about as star-studded as it gets.

Several celebs still on the guest list have been making their way to the summer garden party at the former president's $12 million Martha's Vineyard mansion to celebrate B.O. turning the big 6-0 ... including a pair of powerhouse couples -- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, and Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union ... this according to the New York Times.

Don Cheadle's also arrived, and huge names like Jay-Z and Beyonce, Eddie Vedder, George Clooney and Steven Spielberg are all still expected to attend.

So who didn't make the scaled-down guest list? Many of Obama's former administration officials including David Axelrod, and many comedians like David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Larry David ... giving the latter a fantastic idea for a future episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Axelrod's the big surprise ... he engineered Obama's 2008 election victory.

As we reported ... Barack's 60th was scheduled to be a massive event, but the Obamas decided to scuttle the plan over COVID concerns with Delta surging.

It's a callback Friday for President Biden ... whose decision to wear a tan suit to a news conference looks like a nod to the dumbest "controversy" of former President Barack Obama's administration.

The Prez took the podium Friday morning at the White House to speak about the economy and the July jobs report -- mostly positive news for once -- and he raised some eyebrows by stepping out in beige ... with a green tie.

As you might recall ... Obama was skewered by conservatives and style critics when he did the same thing on August 28, 2014 for his news conference about increasing the U.S. military response against Syria.

Tan Suit Gate -- as it became to be known -- featured Republicans blasting Obama for his wardrobe choice, claiming it showed a lack of seriousness ... while countless bloggers and talking heads weighed in on the look for weeks afterward.

Anyway, now that Biden's debuted his tan suit look for the first time in his presidency, it begs 2 questions: Will this result in a similarly stupid uproar? And, more importantly ... who wore it better?

Hunter Biden has made a big move ... to a Southern California beach town riddled with celebs ... aka Malibu -- TMZ has learned.

Biden is renting a 3,000 square foot, 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath home about a mile away from the ocean. The house sold for $3.34 million back in 2019 and it was listed for rent at $20k a month.

Neighbors tell TMZ ... the house is crawling with Secret Service agents. One neighbor tells us, someone from the Secret Service approached him a few days back and asked if he'd be willing to rent out his house to them for a year. He politely declined.

The photo of Biden (above) was taken Monday as he was leaving lunch with several people.

We're told Joe Biden's son actually moved around 4 months ago, but it was kept on the down-low. He was previously living in Venice, CA in a house that had very little privacy, which seems to explain the move.

We're told he has pretty much kept to himself. The neighbors we spoke with say they haven't even met him and most haven't even seen him.

The G.O.A.T. is finally back at POTUS' pad ... Tom Brady has officially made the trip to the White House for the Buccaneers' Super Bowl party!!

Of course, this is an extremely rare sight ... 'cause the QB barely ever goes to these events -- you'll recall, the last time he attended a D.C. Super Bowl celly was way back in 2005!!

Brady skipped out on a trip to Barack Obama's White House in 2015, and he also ditched a visit to Donald Trump's White House in 2017.

When Brady's Patriots won it all again in 2018 ... the team as a whole never went -- meaning Brady has only capped off 3 of his previous 6 championships with 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. visit.

Unclear what made Brady want to go this time around -- particularly 'cause it's Gisele's birthday Tuesday -- but he's there nonetheless, and looking dapper as hell!!

Tom wore a dark suit with a tie and sunglasses for the occasion ... and he was front and center for a team pic with the Lombardi Trophy out on the South Lawn before the ceremony began.

His teammate, Donovan Smith, even got in a little joking with Tom about the event ... asking the QB, "You got residency here?"

Tom's response? "It's been a long time since I've been here. A long time."

The Bucs' trip marks the first time a Super Bowl winner has gone to the White House for a celebration since 2017 ... and we're sure there's going to be a lot of laughs at the event.

The official ceremony gets underway in just a few minutes ... stay tuned!!

VP Kamala Harris just went to the hospital for what the White House calls a standard visit -- but some worry it may be COVID related, based on who she's been around in recent days.

News broke Sunday that the Veep had made what seemed to be an unannounced trip to Walter Reed in D.C. -- something a WH official confirmed, but downplayed as nothing more than a "routine doctor's appointment." Apparently, it had already been scheduled.

Ya might find it odd a check-up would go down on a Sunday ... but for the leaders of our nation, we're guessing they can get appointments whenever they want (or need). Even recent history has shown ... it's not unheard of for a Prez to see a doc on the weekend.

Like we said, the WH says this is unrelated to 'rona, or Harris' meet-up with Texas lawmakers this past week ... a few of whom have tested positive for the virus since then. Still, the timing has raised eyebrows -- but for now, the message is ... it's much ado about nothing.

Of course, it's understandable why folks might connect those dots. Like we said, the Vice President had some facetime Tuesday with upwards of 60 TX Dems who fled their state to avoid having to vote, in vain, on new voting laws that were sure to pass regardless.

Kamala gave them props during the meeting, saying they were doing the right thing ... even though they put their necks on the line. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed the politicians who abandoned their duty would be arrested and charged as soon as they got back into town.

BTW, here's another reason why Kamala's Walter Reed drop-in is raising suspicion -- her rep said she wouldn't be getting tested despite being in the same room with 3 of the Texans who were positive ... apparently, because they weren't in close proximity to her for the meeting, and because she's fully vaccinated. The rep says due to the sequence of events, it was determined she wasn't at risk of exposure ... so testing/quarantining wasn't needed.

Dana White says it was a "massive f*** up" by the UFC for NOT showing former President Donald Trump during the Conor McGregor fight card.

The UFC prez tells TMZ Sports the flub was a mix of his production team dropping the ball, a technical issue, and the unpredictability of live television.

The way Dana explains it ... there was a plan in place to show Trump sitting near the Octagon. Cameras were supposed to pan from some big-name celebrities to the former Prez ... but things didn't go according to script.

“We were getting ready to show him right between the co-main and main events, I think you remember that we showed OBJ. We showed OBJ, then it was supposed to go to David Spade, 2 Chainz, and then the president, and we had some kinda glitch in the truck. Then the Conor fight ended up ending in the 2nd round so we never got a chance."

White continued ... "Let me tell you what, massive f*** up by my production team, but ya know, it’s live TV and these things happen.”

We obtained video of DT arriving at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas midway through the main card ... and you see Trump being greeted by Dana and getting a nice ovation from the packed crowd.

But, Trump was never seen on the broadcast ... leading some to speculate there was something nefarious going on with the ESPN broadcast.

Dana says that's NOT the case ... telling us any former president deserves to be shown on TV, regardless of political affiliation.

Zaila Avant-garde's on the roller coaster of a lifetime after winning the National Spelling Bee, and her next stop just might be 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. -- we just hope it goes smoother than her NYC visit.

We got the newly-crowned champ and her mother, Alma Heard, Wednesday after landing at LAX, and -- like most of us -- our photog was duly impressed by the 14-year-old wonderkid who just became the first Black American teen to win the event.

We had to ask if she was getting the same perks as most sports champions ... namely, an invitation to the White House. You gotta see her response ... Zaila's first thought was to be super-considerate of President Biden's time, but then mom revealed something might already be in the works. #Fingerscrossed.

Hey, she's already getting invited all over the place -- it's Hollywood this week, but last week she was at the ESPYs in NYC, and Zaila told how things went a little haywire there.

Former President Donald Trump threatened to sue over the new book detailing his alleged praise for Adolf Hitler ... according to the author, Michael Bender, who says he was summoned to Mar-a-Lago for a one-on-one.

Bender joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to discuss, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost" -- and he told us how Trump tried at first to gently spin the content of his book ... before taking a more hardcore approach.

The WSJ reporter says Trump twice invited him to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office ... and while the ex-Prez was gracious with his time, Michael says there was also threatening language involved.

As we reported ... Bender's book claims Trump was visiting Europe in 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, when at some point during the trip Trump turned to his then-Chief of Staff, Gen. John F. Kelly and allegedly said, "Well, Hitler did a lot of good things." Kelly allegedly pushed back.

Bender claims Trump's response to the alleged Hitler conversation was to call it defamatory during their face-to-face meeting ... which he took as signaling a potential lawsuit if it ended up in the book.

Of course, he did include it ... and told us why he was supremely confident, despite the threat.

The Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville is finally coming down ... nearly 4 years after it played a central role in sparking the violent rally where Heather Heyer was killed.

Crews started working early Saturday morning to remove the monument to the Confederate general from a city park.

The monumental event drew a crowd of spectators who cheered when the statue was finally lifted off its pedestal. The crews are expected to remove another nearby statue too -- that one of another Confederate general ... Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Calls for the city to take down the tributes to the failed Confederacy were what ignited the "Unite the Right" rally back in 2017 ... where neo-Nazis with tiki torches walked through the University of Virginia campus chanting about white supremacy.

That drew counter protesters and sparked the violent clash where James Fields eventually plowed through a crowd with his car, killing Heyer. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for her murder and hate crimes.

Then-President Trump infamously reacted to the deadly incident by saying there was "blame on both sides."

As the Lee statue was coming down Saturday, Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker addressed the crowd and reporters, saying ... "Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Virginia, and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy Black people for economic gain."

It's unclear where the statues will go now. By law, the city had to accept bids from people or institutions interested in taking them. Charlottesville reportedly 10 offers and the city council will make the final call.

Former President Donald Trump apparently thought that despite being responsible for millions of deaths during WWII -- including several million in the Holocaust -- Adolf Hilter's hits are overlooked in history ... this according to a new book, which details the wild claim.

The alleged story is told in WSJ reporter Michael Bender's new book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost." Bender claims the Hitler anecdote was told to Trump's ex-Chief of Staff, Gen. John F. Kelly.

According to an excerpt obtained by The Guardian ... Bender's book claims Trump was on a visit to Europe in 2018 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI -- and at some point during the trip ... he turned to Kelly and allegedly said, "Well, Hitler did a lot of good things." Kelly was reportedly gobsmacked, as you can imagine.

The veteran military man pushed back, reportedly telling Trump he was wrong, but DT cited Germany's economic recovery under Hitler. Gen. Kelly pushed back further, reminding Trump who was on the good and bad side of history, while also drawing a line from point A to point B when it came to Hitler's ascent and, ultimately, his atrocities.

Kelly's also allegedly said ... "You cannot ever say anything supportive of Adolf Hitler. You just can't." Indeed, truer words haven't been spoken.

Here's Tom Brady proving he's bad at absolutely nothing ... smoking a tee shot so far on Tuesday, even Barack Obama couldn't help but be floored by the swing!!!

The insane stroke all went down during the third hole of Tuesday's "The Match" ... when Tom crushed a drive so well, it traveled 390 yards and landed just feet from the pin!

Obama happened to be commenting on the hole for TNT's broadcast during the swing ... and he was left darn-near speechless, saying nothing more than "wow!"

The most impressive part about the swing? Tom and his partner, Phil Mickelson, needed it desperately after Bryson DeChambeau had just buried his tee shot a few feet away from the cup.

Mickelson ended up missing the eagle putt, but Brady and the golf superstar still won the hole ... as both Aaron Rodgers and DeChambeau missed their putts.

Phil later told Tom on the next tee box it was one of the best drives he'd EVER seen ... and yeah, watch the clip -- it's hard to argue with that.

"The Match" is all tied up through three-plus holes so far ... and the smack talk is just heating up -- with Phil already clowning Bryson for a bad tee shot on #4.

Former Navy CB Cameron Kinley is asking for President Joe Biden's help ... after the U.S. Military continues to deny his request to delay his service -- so he can play in the NFL.

Kinley -- a 22-year-old former Navy FB team captain -- just graduated from the Naval Academy and signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

However, Kinley committed to serving as an officer in the Navy following graduation (service he still intends to fulfill) ... but first, he wants to play some ball -- and he's hoping to get an assist from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

"President Biden, first off thank you for all that you do. I have a lot of respect for you, for anybody who's willing to lead our country," Kinley says.

"I'm just asking that you consider helping me with this situation I am currently in and allowing me to delay my commission so that I can go play in the NFL and then serve my commitment whenever I get done playing."

Kinley also believes his presence in the NFL will be a great recruiting tool ... showing potential recruits you can serve your country AND follow your dreams as a pro athlete.

"There's so many different ways that I can recruit, there's so many ways I can bring positivity to our fighting forces, to allow young men and women to see the opportunity that you have and to see that dreams can come reality."

We also asked Kinley's agent, Ryan Williams-Jenkins if he's considering taking legal action if the decision isn't reversed.

"That's not the case here at this time," Williams-Jenkins says ... "What we'd like to do is take all the proper channels and do things correctly. We believe there is a case to be made from Cameron to be played."

RWJ also points out that several graduates of Army and Navy -- like Malcolm Perry and Keenan Reynolds -- were approved to play in the NFL .. and he's confused about why Kinley is being denied.

"The list goes on and on of players that were able to delay their commission and play in the NFL or be commissioned and play in the NFL simultaneously which is another avenue that we're exploring for Cameron," Williams-Jenkins says.

There's zero need to fill in H.E.R. about "Schoolhouse Rock!" ... 'cause not only has she heard of the iconic series, but she's also helped the Obamas improve on it with their new Netflix animated series.

The 4-time Grammy-winning singer joins us Monday on "TMZ Live" to let us know how executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama got her onboard for "We the People." Here's a hint: there was no arm-twisting involved.

The series features roughly 3-minute long episodes teaching viewers about different aspects of American civics and politics -- and they're centered around originals songs from H.E.R., Janelle Monae, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Rexha and others.

Now, for older heads this is gonna sound very familiar ... kinda like ABC's popular series, "Schoolhouse Rock!," from the 70s and 80s. You know "I'm Just a Bill" was a jam!

Well H.E.R. says "We The People" differs in one big way -- it has established hitmakers, like herself, which she says will immediately draw young audiences, and help them connect with the message. Let's just call it better learning through better music.

H.E.R. hopes the songs from the Netflix series live on like those from "Schoolhouse Rock!" ... and help young people get more invested in the country's political future.

President Biden has weighed in on Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension from competing in the Olympics -- and he dished out a tough love response ... basically saying, she knew better.

JB was down in Michigan Saturday for an event ahead of 4th of July ... and he was asked by CBS WH reporter Bo Erickson if he thought Richardson facing a one-month ban from competition due to a positive THC test was fair ... and Biden essentially said, sadly yes.

You can watch the clip yourself to see how he put it in his own words -- but the Prez didn't make any bones about it ... telling the press that everyone knows the rules going in, so it kinda is what it is on the punishment end. He did leave room for debate, however.

Check it out ... Joe says whether the weed rule should stay intact or not is an entirely different discussion -- but under the current guidelines, he suggests the punishment fits the crime. With that said, he did give Richardson props ... saying he was proud at how she responded.

Sha'Carri did an interview shortly after the news broke that she'd been temporarily DQ'd ... telling Savannah Guthrie she ingested marijuana recently, this after learning her biological mother had died and learning about it at a presser. Sha'Carri owned up to the mistake with her chin high -- but also seemed to indicate that the so-called "rules" were draconian.

President Biden's already predicting who will win the 2021 World Series ... he's going with the L.A. Dodgers!!!

The Prez made the prediction Friday in his opening remarks at the White House as he hosted the Doyers in the East Room. Biden said, "We may be doing this by the end of the year." He's not wrong ... the Dodgers are the odds-on favorite to repeat as champs.

The Boys in Blue are the first championship team to visit 1600 Pennsylvania since the COVID shutdown. It's also the first time the Dodgers visited the White House as champions since last doing so in 1988 ... Ronald Reagan's last year in office.

While the visit is a first for stars Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner and Clayton Kershaw ... this is also Mookie Betts' first trip to the White House. Betts led the Boston Red Sox to the 2018 World Series ... but the then-reigning AL MVP decided not to attend the 2019 ceremony when Donald Trump was in office.

In any event ... the team showed off their fire fashion sense. Kenley Jansen opted for a slick tux, while Mookie, ever the GQ man, borrowed a page from Pharrell's fashion playbook.

But, major props to Joe Kelly ... who showed up to the WH with the mariachi jacket he got from a mariachi band member he met at Dodger Stadium. Eso!!!