Pete Buttigieg insists he's not sure about getting back on the campaign trail -- possibly running for POTUS again in 2024 -- but he's not completely shutting the door either.

The former presidential hopeful, and current Sec. of Transportation, joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" and we asked him about the buzz around the Beltway about him making a second run for the White House.

Right now, Buttigieg says he's not feeling like there's anything inspiring him to run, because he's plenty busy trying to make an impact in his current job -- which includes allocating a good chunk of the $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

Pete made a push for the White House in 2020 before Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination and eventually the general election. While some people seem to think Mr. Secretary's gearing up for a second bite of the campaign trail, PB says he doesn't see any need for it. Not now, at least.

Aside from his political plate, Pete's also got his hands full being a parent with husband Chasten, and you can tell he loves being a dad to twins ... a boy and a girl.

The White House is fully decked out for Christmas ... and it goes way beyond the official tree.

The East and West Wings were adorned with Xmas trees, ornaments and various other holiday decorations.

Now, check this out ... there's a photo attached to one of the trees just like an ornament, featuring President Joe and Jill Biden. AND ... there's another pic of Biden's predecessor -- yes, Donald Trump -- on another tree.

The theme -- "Gifts from the heart" ... although the overriding theme seems to be "kindness" ... there are ribbons displaying that message in both Wings.

There was a gingerbread White House front and center in the State Dining Room ... kinda awesome.

As you may know ... The National Xmas Tree was lit last week ... a tree costing $139,000.

Jack Dorsey, the CEO and one of the founders of Twitter, is expected to step down from his role ... causing the company's stock to make a massive jump.

A report from CNBC says Dorsey -- who is both the CEO of Twitter and Square -- is expected to step down from his executive role with Twitter as early as Monday. After the news, the stock jumped 11%.

It was just last year when Elliott Management -- the Twitter stakeholder -- had wanted Dorsey to step down, under the belief it was hard for him to effectively run both Twitter and Square at the same time. Both had come to an agreement back then to keep Jack on, but clearly, they've now decided differently.

Twitter was founded in 2006 by Dorsey, Biz Stone, Noah Glass and Ev Williams. Dorsey first served as CEO until 2008 and then took back over in 2015. He founded Square -- a digital payment company -- in 2009 and will almost certainly keep his role there.

Of course, over the years, Dorsey made his fair share of celeb friends ... including Jay-Z. The two were spotted together in the Hamptons back in August.

Jack has also been vocal in the career of Ye as well, even suggesting how he should roll out his "DONDA" album.

SoFi Stadium seemed a little too easy to slip into ahead of a big BTS concert -- so much so that many felt COVID protocols were being broken ... even though the venue refutes that.

The Korean pop band performed Saturday at the arena in L.A., and as the gates opened for ticketholders ... some say they saw laxed screenings by security and other personnel, which they believe also meant vaccination cards weren't being checked or enforced.

Ditto for bags ... tons of people online, who presumably were there, claim nobody was taking a look at anyone's personal belongings.

There's some video evidence that appears to support that, at least on the surface. As you can see -- a steady stream of fans are trickling in past security checkpoints ... and there doesn't seem to be much stop-and-go movement, it's all just go.

Of course, this drew some criticism and concern -- as SoFi's policy for entry is that you either present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within recent days. Naturally, the Omicron variant is at the forefront of everyone's minds too.

On their end, SoFi tells TMZ ... "The safety of our guests, staff and the artist are always our number one priority, and we coordinated with law enforcement to temporarily streamline guest entry at last night's show. Tonight, we will have increased security and guest entry points and will begin vaccination verification even earlier in the entry process."

A group of thieves rushed a Home Depot in SoCal for what may lead to more looting and robberies -- making off with hammers and crowbars in what's becoming an alarming trend.

Cops say about 10 individuals hit up a HD in Lakewood, CA -- just outside of Long Beach -- Friday night ... going directly to the aisles that had large wrenches, crowbars and sledgehammers, as that appeared to be the only items they were interested in.

Somebody got video of the alleged suspects escaping through the front doors, pushing past people. One employee claims as many as 20 people ransacked the place, and were allegedly threatening to hit people with said stolen goods if they attempted to stop them.

While most got away ... the police say they've nabbed 4 people they believe were involved.

On the opposite side of town -- in ritzy Beverly Grove on Melrose -- a luxury retailer called Bottega Veneta was also raided by an unidentified group of people ... who allegedly stormed in, grabbed purses and other goods and then fled before cops could arrive.

These are just the latest of a string of smash-and-grab/flash mob-style robberies that have not only hit the Los Angeles area ... but elsewhere in California, and well beyond our state lines.

There have been reports of similar types of crimes happening in Illinois, Minnesota and other states -- and cops have gone on high alert to try and curb the brazen attacks on stores and businesses.

It's hard to tell to what extent this spree is, and among who -- although in some cases (like in Walnut Creek) it's quite obvious there's some coordination going on ... as many as 25 cars reportedly blocked off a street and lined up side by side as passengers exited and cleaned out a Nordstrom.

Of course, there's not much citizens -- let alone employees -- can do to stop this. Reports say anyone who's attempted to get in the way has risked getting attacked with pepper spray or being swung on ... and workers are usually told not to try and play Batman for this scenario.

Bad news -- possibly REALLY bad news -- there's a new COVID variant that has some countries in a panic ... a variant that may make the vaccine WAY less effective.

The new strain turned up in South Africa, but it's also been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel. As everyone knows by now, this virus knows no boundaries, so it's become a concern worldwide.

Some scientists are saying the variant makes the vaccine 40% less effective, which is beyond alarming. The hope was the Delta variant would wane after the first few months of 2022 and the pandemic would be behind us, but this new strain poses a real threat.

A bunch of countries -- including Britain, Israel, Germany and Italy -- have banned flights from South Africa, but the U.S. is still allowing planes from that country to land here. The U.S. has still listed South Africa as "Level 1: Low Level of COVID-19."

Dr. Eric Feigle-Ding sounded the alarm in a tweet -- "My god—the new #B11259 variant being possibly ~500% more competitively infectious is the most staggering stat yet. Also, #NuVariant has more than >2x the number of bad spike mutations than Delta." Scary.

Short story ... there's concern this strain spreads way more easily than what we've already seen. That said, it's unclear if the strain is more severe than the strains we've all been dealing with over the last year-and-a-half.

Dr. Fauci says there's no evidence the variant has made its way to the U.S. ... at least not yet.

Posters have been plastered on buildings and bus stops in Europe, showing images of some very famous women who appear brutalized ... in an effort to grab people by the collar so they better understand domestic violence.

Artist AleXsandro Palombo has doctored images of Vice President Kamala Harris, along with British Dutchess Kate Middleton, Queen Letizia of Spain, French politician Christine Lagarde and others ... making them appear to be D.V. victims in her series, "She reported him, but she was killed anyway."

The caption under the battered faces reads, "She reported him -- But nobody believed her - But she was left alone -- But she was not protected - But he was not arrested - But she was killed anyway."

The posters have been seen in Milan and Spain, and presumably beyond.

The artist says his end game is to "draw attention to the poor responses from politics regarding the problem of gender-based violence and highlights the ineffectiveness of the support and protection system to the victims."

Soledad O'Brien says there's a reason it's so difficult for a lot of missing persons cases to make the national news ... she says the woman has to be pretty, and they better be white.

The veteran TV journalist joined us on "TMZ Live" and we asked her why mainstream media outlets tend to cover cases like Gabby Petito and Natalee Holloway while ignoring stories involving minorities.

Soledad's a bit of an expert on the topic, and not just because of her background in cable news ... she produced a new docuseries on HBO, "Black and Missing," examining media bias as it relates to missing persons.

The way Soledad explains it ... the Petito case, which made headlines right when the docuseries debuted, is a perfect example of what many call "Missing White Woman Syndrome."

Soledad says media tend to run with missing persons stories involving pretty, white women because that's what they think will resonate with the audience ... and she rattles off countless examples.

A SpaceX rocket blasted off Tuesday night for a mission of self-destruction ... and its end game is to save planet earth!

NASA commissioned Elon Musk's rocket company to hurl a Falcon 9 rocket into a nearly year-long journey which will end with the spacecraft bashing into a faraway asteroid.

Scientists want to see if the impact could actually change the asteroid's trajectory ... something that could be lifesaving if it were headed toward mother earth.

The spacecraft -- dubbed DART, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test -- left earthly terra firma at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Cali ... and the whole thing is kinda like a ripoff of "Armageddon."

DART is supposed to violently connect with Dimorphos -- an asteroid that measures 525 feet across -- at a speed of 15,000 MPH.

Scientists say the impact will not destroy the asteroid ... but the goal is to change its orbit.

It's complicated, but if the asteroid moves for a minimum of 73 seconds, the mission is considered a raging success!

Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle both grabbed Grammy noms -- despite their individual battles with "cancel culture" -- a signal maybe "canceling" people is on the wane.

The Academy announced its picks Tuesday ... Louis received a nom for Best Comedy Album and Chappelle for Best Spoken Word Album. Of course, Twitter was quick to react, mostly full of people who have had it up to HERE with C.C.

One user wrote, "Louis CK just got nominated for a Grammy, in case people wanted to keep clutching their pearls about the long-term effects of cancel culture." Another said, "only one grammy nom each for dave chappelle, kevin hart, and louis CK!! cancel culture strikes again!!"

It was back in 2017 when Louis C.K. admitted to exposing himself and masturbating in front of women or during phone convos. We saw a glimpse that things were turning around for him when he got a standing ovation at a show in 2019 before COVID closed venues across the country.

As we reported ... Dave's had his recent share of controversy as well -- especially from some in the LGBTQ+ community -- after his most recent Netflix special, "The Closer" almost entirely was centered around transgender and gay people.

Horrifying moment during the Citadel vs. Duke game on Monday ... Bulldogs head coach Duggar Baucom collapsed on the sideline and needed to be taken to the hospital.

It all went down at Cameron Indoor Stadium ... when just a few minutes into the first half, Baucom terrifyingly crashed to the floor.

You can see in video from the arena, trainers and players rushed to the 61-year-old, who was eventually helped off the court and taken to Duke University hospital, where he stayed overnight for further evaluation.

Fortunately, Bulldogs assistant coach Jack Castleberry -- who took over for Baucom during the game -- said after the contest that Baucom was "coherent" and was "as good as he can be" considering the circumstances.

"He just said he was in pain," Castleberry said. "You can tell with the look in his eyes that it was very, very genuine."

After the 107-81 loss, the team said that Baucom -- who is in his 7th season with the Bulldogs -- is expected to be fine and is scheduled to travel back with the team Tuesday.

"The Citadel Head Coach Duggar Baucom is alert and in good spirits," the team said in a statement.

"He is scheduled to return back to Charleston with the team Tuesday morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with Coach B and his family at this time."

Ghislaine Maxwell seems to be full of secrets -- including what she knows about Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful pals, and one journo is hoping to unlock the mystery once and for all.

The British socialite -- who was tight with Epstein for years before he was charged anew in 2019, and subsequently killed himself -- is about to have her day in court over alleged sex trafficking, among other charges she's facing ... which will be decided at trial later this month.

Of course, many see Maxwell as the key to unlocking the long suspected malfeasance Epstein was conducting with underage girls -- and that goes doubly so for reporter Vicky Ward.

We talked to Vicky on "TMZ Live" about the "Chasing Ghislaine" documentary she's just released on Discovery+, and she tells us a lot of new information is uncovered through her investigation ... one she's been digging into and working on for over a decade now.

Something that's clear to Vicky about Epstein's alleged criminal acts is he clearly had a support system of influential allies spanning the entire globe. Many of those ties to powerful people have already been exposed -- but Vicky wonders how they could NOT have known what Epstein was doing.

She does not suggest any one of these men participated in anything unseemly themselves ... but in her eyes (and, frankly, the eyes of many) there's no reason they should've been as cozy with the guy ... especially knowing his sordid history.

President Biden got behind the wheel of General Motors' new all-electric Hummer, putting the pedal to the metal ... and he says it's even faster than his Corvette Stingray.

POTUS hit up the automaker's ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant Wednesday in Detroit, Michigan where GM's new Hummer is being built, and test-driven ... at least by the Prez.

Biden burned out and zipped down the track before slamming on the brakes ... then circled back to make some jokes for the media.

This time, Biden didn't miss the mark quite as badly as he did during a similar test drive on Ford's new electric truck back in May, when he joked about a hit-and-run on a reporter.

Still, Biden jokingly asked if any reporters wanted to climb in the back, or on the roof ... so, baby steps in the joke department.

The new Hummer looks and sounds pretty fast, at least with Biden in the driver's seat ... and it seems he's got a need for speed.

Biden's a big car guy ... back in 2016, when he was Barack Obama's VP, he did a burnout in his 1976 Corvette Stingray on Jay Leno's show.

Somewhere Laura Ingraham is still confused as hell about what happened on her own show Monday night -- an exchange with her guest that she unwittingly turned into a classic comedic moment.

So, Ingraham was chatting with Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo about "woke storylines" in Hollywood productions when he brought up "You" -- the Netflix show, that is -- and an episode that mentioned measles.

But, Laura immediately thought he was talking about her, and it was painfully clear she's not aware "You" is a thing. With a horribly confused look on her face, she said, "When did I mention measles?"

Now, Raymond's confused too, and yells back at Laura, "No! It was on "You!'" -- which only enrages her more. You gotta see it.

Folks of a certain age (and knowledge) will see this as a modern, and accidental, take on Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's classic, "Who's on First?"

Sounds like Ingraham might be binging 3 seasons of "You" this weekend.