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President Trump firmly believes HE won the election, and thinks the only way Joe Biden can win is if there's shady ballot business ... so, he's going to the Supreme Court, and setting America up for a battle royal.

It was well after 2 AM ET when POTUS spoke at the White House ... rattling off all the states where he'd won, and said he was getting ready for a big victory celebration when it was suddenly called off.

Trump was incensed, feeling he was well on his way to being declared the winner based on victories in Florida, Texas and Ohio. He also feels he has a big enough lead in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan to be declared the winner in those states ... which no media outlet is doing yet.

The incumbent is especially pissed about PA, where at the time of his speech he was beating Biden by more than 600,000 votes -- a lead he believes is unsurmountable. That's not how experts see it, with much of Philadelphia's ballots still not counted. Trump said he's going to SCOTUS anyway, because he suspects "surprise ballots," presumably cast for Biden, might be found at 4 AM.

The President also accused the Biden campaign of running to court, which, as far as the public knows, hasn't happened. Biden spoke about 90 minutes earlier, and was confident he was "on track" to win ... but made no mention of alleged cheating or the need for lawyers.

What's odd is Trump said he wants "all voting to stop." Voting has stopped, but what's happening now -- and clearly not in a manner to his liking -- is the counting of ballots. BTW, that counting might give Trump a victory in Arizona, where Fox News has projected Biden to win.

This is really the worst-case scenario for America. Neither candidate has the necessary 270 electoral college votes yet, but Trump is declaring victory and already accusing the Dems of cheating -- and now the Supreme Court, with his newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, could be in play.

It all adds up to days, if not weeks and months of political strife, and possible civil unrest, ahead for the nation.

Folks in New Jersey have green on the mind -- they are eager to brush up on their marijuana skills after voting to legalize it, and their Google searches show it.

The term "how to roll a joint" saw a nearly 3,000% jump in the ultimate search engine during a solid 4 hours Tuesday evening as the Garden State overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure to make it legal to grow, smoke and sell herb starting in 2021.

Of course, like California, you'll have to be 21 to do all that ... and there's still some red tape they gotta go through -- like setting up the rules of this trade -- before anyone can partake. Still, a whole new batch of tokers are obviously itching to bust out rolling papers.

Also trending in Jersey ... the term "when will weed be legal in New Jersey." So, yeah, they're ready to burn.

Several other states are saying puff puff pass with Jersey, too -- Arizona, Montana and South Dakota also voted to approve pot measures.

Colorado, Washington, Cali, Oregon and Illinois have been leading the nation in cashing in on marijuana users ... having gone fully legal with it years ago.

President Trump revving up for a legal battle over the election is already triggering peaceful protests across the country ... and it's feeling like an eerie, relative calm before the storm.

Hundreds of protesters made their voice heard loud and clear late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning outside the White House. The demonstration went down while the election results were still very much up in the air -- and before Trump's controversial speech -- with the majority of the crowd being Joe Biden supporters -- but a handful were there to back the current Prez.

Nothing got out of hand, though, as many had anticipated. Much of Washington D.C.'s business district has been boarded up this week, but cops say they only made 4 arrests related to the protest.

As we've been reporting ... Beverly Hills was also bracing for the worst on election night, and a huge crowd of Trump supporters did line Canon Drive in that city.

The protesters were definitely loud, but there was no violence ... with cops only detaining one person there. Meanwhile, it was a little tenser in downtown L.A., where around 40 people were arrested after the LAPD declared an unlawful assembly.

Madison Cawthorn is only 25 years old, but that didn't stop him from being elected to represent North Carolina's 11th Congressional District ... making him the youngest member of the House in modern U.S. history.

Cawthorn -- a staunch Republican who's anti-abortion, pro-gun and shares President Trump's views on immigrants -- defeated Democrat Moe Davis for the seat ... according to CNN's projection.

His first message to his constituents after his historic victory was a sharp jab across the aisle -- "Cry more, lib." It's the kinda football spiking that would make Trump proud.

Before Cawthorn, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's win in New York in 2018 made her the youngest female elected member in modern history at 29 years, 2 months and 22 days.

However, the new NC Rep. isn't the youngest Congressman of all time ... that title belongs to William Charles Cole Claiborne of Tennessee, elected in 1797 at age 22 despite not meeting the constitutional age requirement.

Rules. NBD in the 18th century.

BTW, if Cawthorn looks familiar, it might be because you remember him from a maskless meeting with Trump back in July shortly after the Prez said it was "patriotic" to wear a mask amid the pandemic.

A professional hotline dedicated to reporting funny business at the polls was inundated with calls alleging voter intimidation this election cycle ... far surpassing anything they saw 4 years ago.

Election Protection is a safe haven for whistleblowers who see something fishy or downright illegal at polling places all over the country -- and according to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (a nonprofit that manages the hotline) ... 2020 was crazy busy.

A rep for the Lawyers' Committee tells TMZ ... since the month of October, their collection of 40k-plus legal volunteers fielded upwards of 115k calls about potential voter suppression -- which pales in comparison to the total 150k or so calls they got for the ENTIRE year in 2016.

As of this past weekend -- when early voting was in full swing in a majority of states -- we're told EP got a call from out from Hanover, VA about what appeared to be a militia group holding a parade in front of a polling place ... which freaked out some people.

Lawyers' Committee adds that officials on the scene noted there were BLM counter-protesters on hand too -- and that voters were feeling uneasy about the whole thing in general. We're told local authorities were alerted to check it out and make sure nobody was being harassed.

On Tuesday, Lawyers' Committee tells us they received several calls regarding alleged voter intimidation in Florida ... from counties like Hillsborough, Brevard, Palm Beach and more. In Orange County, we're told they got a report of 5 pickup trucks blocking the entrance to a polling place there ... something Election Protection says they flagged to officials.

There are more incidents they were made aware of on Election Day, including pollsters taking temp checks in Virginia -- which some folks thought was meant to keep people from voting -- as well as a heavy reliance on paper ballots, misappropriated voting machines and delayed opening times at polling places in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and other states.

Joe Biden is feeling good about his chances to win the Presidency -- or at least he did shortly before 1 AM ET, when he addressed his supporters ... but President Trump is saying not so fast.

The former Vice President made his early morning speech in Wilmington, DE, telling the socially-distanced crowd he thinks he's "on track" to get the W ... once all the mail-in ballots and early votes are counted in swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Biden also tried to warn that final count is gonna take a while. He thanked Americans for being patient ... acknowledging what most experts are saying -- with so many ballots to be counted in multiple states, neither candidate will get to 270 electoral college votes Tuesday night ... or even Wednesday morning.

Joe says his campaign feels really good about its projected early lead in the race for 270 electoral votes, citing Fox News' projected flip of Arizona from red to blue.

Trump is pushing a far different narrative ... the Prez tweeted his campaign is actually winning and he's accusing the Democrats of "trying to STEAL the Election."

Trump's saying votes can't be cast after the polls are closed. He wasn't specific about where that alleged cheating was happening. However, Biden's mainly banking on early voting and mail-in ballots for the bulk of his votes ... so, Trump's beef might be a moot.

Twitter's already flagged the President's tweet as potentially being "misleading" -- which is sure to piss him off even more.

Americans freaking out through this volatile election season -- the most crucial of our lifetimes -- are drawing up self-care plans, and leaning into meditation to combat their anxiety and stress.

Health and wellness apps are seeing unprecedented spikes in activity this week ... which is good for biz, but ain't so pretty for citizens. For instance, honchos at Aura -- a meditation app with 4 million users -- tell us anti-anxiety usage was up 50% on election day. Anti-stress usage also spiked by 35% on Tuesday, but it was up a whopping 70% over the last month!!

By the way, anxiety is general worry about something -- while stress is brought on by something specific, and can lead to physical strain. Basically, stress is worse for ya, long term.

Now, over at Headspace, due to, not just politics, but also the coronavirus pandemic ... they're offering meditation resources for free. They say 65 percent of their users say they're anxious about politics, which actually edged out COVID-19 ... a mere 60 percent are worrying about that.

It's no wonder a recent survey found 52 percent of Americans believe their mental health has suffered as a result of the presidential election. The good news is that, depending on who ya voted for, that number might start plummeting as of Wednesday.

President Trump's locked and loaded for a loooong night of watching election results ... dishing up comfort foods, and one menu item feels like a troll job aimed at Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Pigs in a blanket are being served up to Trump's 400 guests watching all the election map drama unfold at the White House. Remember, the President repeatedly accused BLM protesters of shouting an anti-police chant, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon."

The Prez even mentioned it during the final presidential debate.

The hors d'oeuvres are being served individually at the White House, and under glassware. Yes, these pigs in a blanket are super classy! Unclear if they were fried, but they don't appear to be adorned with bacon.

The rest of the menu at the watch party looks similar to what he served to Clemson's national championship football team when they visited the White House during the government shutdown.

Trump's family, chief of staff Mark Meadows, donors and cabinet members are chowing down on sliders, french fries, chicken tenders and a wide selection of desserts.

Jeff and Lauren Lowe ain't nothing but mammals ... the 'Tiger King' stars are gonna get paid to do it on camera, but not for the Discovery Channel.

Sources close to the 'Tiger King' stars tell TMZ ... two of the biggest adult entertainment companies have reached out to Jeff and Lauren to offer them big money for a sex tape with lots of intercourse.

Our sources say Jeff and Lauren are being offered around $300,000 per video to shoot 3 videos.

We're told the XXX companies want one video of Jeff and Lauren banging together, another with them getting down with their nanny, and a third video with them and another guy of Lauren's choosing.

So, that's a couple's sex tape, a ménage à trois and a devil's threeway!!!

Our sources tell us Jeff and Lauren are definitely going to ink a sex tape deal, but they're still deciding on which company to sign with. We're told a deal is likely to be completed by the weekend, so it's coming down to the wire.

Jeff and Lauren are getting ready for lots of camera time ... sources say they're about to start filming 'Tiger King 2' and it's gonna cover the sex tape saga.

Lauren's already warming up for her first sex tape ... she just started an OnlyFans account.

Carolina Panthers safety Tre Boston's family is now the most ICED OUT in the league ... with the NFL vet gifting his wife and son matching #33 diamond pendants!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the 28-year-old safety wanted to do something extra special for his wife, Cierra, and 1-year-old, Tre Jr. ... going above and beyond by getting them ice featuring his jersey number.

We're told Boston hit up Ari The Jeweler in Manhattan for the job -- coming up with two pendants made of 70 grams of gold each and 12 carats of diamonds for mom and pop.

But, Tre couldn't forget about his Mini-Me -- getting the baby boy a similar pendant with 2 carats of diamonds and 15 grams of gold!!

No word on how much Tre shelled out for the big gifts ... but we're told the bigger pieces are appraised at $20k and the boy's pendant is valued at $5k.

Before this American girl was singing and dancing her way onto your television screen, she was just another patriotic pip-squeak showing her red, white, and blue colors after moving to New York from Seoul, South Korea.

This dressed-up gal got her start in the industry by pursuing a career on Broadway before transitioning to television. Starring alongside a musical ensemble cast joined together by producer Ryan Murphy, she reprised numerous popular songs featured on the top charts through the years.

After the television series' 6-season run, she returned to Broadway to win a Tony Award!

Offset's got an appetite to help people exercising their Constitutional right ... by hooking them up with free grub.

The Migos rapper hit up 3 polling locations Tuesday in Gwinnett and Fulton counties with some major back-up -- food trucks from The Slutty Vegan and Big Dave's ... a couple of ATL staples famous for their cheesesteaks.

Offset partnered with The Lincoln Project and AXSD Media to feed folks in line waiting to cast their vote ... helping to ensure turnout is maximized for what could be the most consequential election ever.

Offset got on the back of a truck, grabbed a bullhorn and talked about his excitement in voting for the first time ever.

Offset dove headfirst into the election following an informative roundtable discussion last weekend with T.I. and activists Lee Merritt and Bakari Sellers. They discussed, among other things, the importance of Black male voters encouraging each other to turn out the vote.

If ya can feed people who show up to vote ... major bonus!

Lil Pump is blocking out haters who don't like his political views ... he's focusing on what 4 more years of President Trump means for him, and he's loving it!!!

We got the rapper pulling up to Trump's Washington D.C. hotel on Election Day in a red Ferrari, and he's feeling super confident about the Prez winning re-election.

Lil Pump's been catching tons of flak since endorsing Trump, seemingly because of not wanting to pay more in taxes under Joe Biden, but he told us he's ignoring the noise, and couldn't care less what critics have to say.

As you know ... Trump brought Lil Pump up on stage Monday night at his final campaign stop in Grand Rapids, MI, where 45 called the rapper "Little Pimp." Faux pas aside, Pump says he had an "amazing" time on the campaign trail, and even envisions a future in politics.

DaBaby's brother has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound ... according to sources with direct knowledge of the tragedy.

TMZ's learned the rapper's older brother, Glenn Johnson, took his own life Tuesday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Glenn had posted a video of himself earlier in the day in a car with a gun, and he was visibly upset and crying.

In the video, DaBaby's brother claimed he had been wronged a lot in the past. Not long afterward, our sources say he shot himself in the head and died.

We're told Johnson is survived by 3 daughters and a son.

Story developing ...

Lil Wayne is single once again -- his GF, model Denise Bidot, is moving on ... and it sounds like his endorsement of President Trump was the last straw.

Denise deleted her IG account Tuesday, but before she went dark, there were a bunch of signs of trouble spotted by Internet sleuths. For starters, folks noticed at some point that Mr. Carter and Ms. Bidot stopped following each other.

Then there was Denise's not-so-cryptic meme post that read, "Sometimes love just isn't enough." However, blogger Love B. Scott is reporting Weezy's love for Trump was the problem -- specifically, last week's meeting/photo-op with DT was the last straw for Denise.

Weirdly, Wayne hasn't scrubbed old pics of Denise from his IG feed just yet -- a go-to move of famous exes.

It's not entirely clear how long they've been an item, but they've only been Instagram official since the summer -- and have been very open with their PDA, sometimes to the chagrin of Wayne's kids.

The Texas woman who was super prepared to wait in a long line to cast her ballot early is helping her fellow voters on Election Day ... by providing sustenance.

As we reported ... Belinda Varnado's patriotism and determination were on full display last month in a TikTok where she showed off her early voting survival kit ... including a comfy chair and plenty of snacks.

Belinda told us her video was meant to be a guide for seniors like her on being prepared for long lines at the polls ... and stressed the importance of voting this year along with her daughter, Chevelle Brooks.

The women are practicing what they preach because they made their way to the Toyota Center in Houston on Tuesday -- a major polling site in the city -- to hand out drinks and snacks and help people braving the long lines.

As you can see ... Belinda's her usual charismatic self, bringing that "jush," and both she and Chevelle are prepared to stay there to encourage voting until the polls close.