Politics

Jared Kushner touched down in NYC ready to party with wife Ivanka -- and it wasn’t for any low-key get-together ... it was for a blowout birthday bash for his brother Joshua.

Check out the pics -- Jared and Ivanka were all smiles, hand-in-hand as they rolled into the iconic Katz’s Deli Thursday night, ready to ring in Joshua’s 40th with a bang (and a brisket).

Birthday boy Joshua was all smiles too -- arm in arm with his supermodel wife Karlie Kloss, who threw the pastrami party.

A Florida sheriff made it clear his county won't put up with protests that go from peaceful to violent ... promising lethal force if anyone steps out of line.

Wayne Ivey -- the sheriff of Brevard County, just east of Orlando -- spoke at a press conference about the recent clashes between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and protesters in L.A. ... and, he used some harsh rhetoric to scare people who might think it's a good idea to try the same in FL.

Sheriff Ivey leaves no room for interpretation ... telling the assembled press that resisting lawful orders, blocking an intersection or fleeing arrest will result in jail time.

Kevin O'Leary says violence spilling over from the L.A. protests against Trump's ICE raids needs to stop -- not because of the politics, but because the destruction is crushing small businesses ... which he calls the real un-American crime.

TMZ caught up with the "Shark Tank" star Wednesday ... and he didn’t hold back -- saying smashed windows and car fires aren't legitimate protest -- but they are killing businesses. With thousands of small shops nearby, he says it’s hard-working families who end up paying the price.

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was detained and handcuffed by law enforcement after interrupting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem at a press briefing regarding the ongoing Los Angeles riots -- and there's dramatic video of the incident.

Check out the clip ... the California Democrat shouts he has questions for Noem, while trying to make a point about a "half a dozen violent criminals" as he's being forcefully pushed from the room by several men.

He's delivered to two FBI officers who were assisting the Secret Service -- who were protecting Noem, law enforcement sources tell TMZ. Padilla appears to resist when asked to put his hands behind his back -- prompting officers to force him nearly face-down to the ground while they handcuff him.

Reality TV stars, singers and actors aren't the only public figures who know showin' more skin grabs the win ... Can you guess which political player donned this red-hot silk dress?

She's not quite royalty, but she is a powerful partner ... back in 2000, this First Lady posed nude on her (then future) husband's plane for a magazine cover, and she was also a Sports Illustrated model.

12:48 PM PT -- The Craigslist post has been officially debunked as fake -- Fight Fight Fight LLC via GetTrumpMemes telling TMZ ... they know nothing about it.

An ad posted to Craigslist calling for seat-fillers for the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary parade this weekend -- AKA President Trump's birthday bash -- has gone viral ... but it has all the makings of a total hoax.

Here's the deal ... an ad posted this week on the D.C. website page with the headline "Seat Fillers Needed - June 14th - Constitution Avenue - DC" claims patriotically dressed seat-fillers would be paid a freaking grand -- in crypto -- to show up and cheer their butts off Saturday.

But .. there are some red (sans white and blue) flags with the post ... for instance, the alleged coordinator -- T-Mellon Events -- doesn't appear to exist, so far as TMZ could find while searching for business records. What's more -- on ALL of Craigslist in the U.S., T-Mellon Events only appears on this single listing.

Oh, the misery ... this can't be how President Trump envisioned opening night for his revamped Kennedy Center going -- a vocal battle between boo birds and his supporters -- and that was even before the curtain came up on "Les Misérables."

As the prez and First Lady Melania Trump strode to their balcony box seats, they were hit with a chorus of boos and excited cheers ... the theatergoers went back and forth for a bit before the "USA, USA!!!" chants won -- and Trump celebrated the small victory by throwing up a raised fist.

Clearly, the audience wasn’t shy -- one woman in the crowd made sure Trump heard her loud and clear, waiting for the crowd to quiet before repeatedly shouting "convicted felon!"

Conservative commentator Michael Knowles tore into Gov. Gavin Newsom on "TMZ Live" -- ripping his response to the L.A. ICE protests and claiming it was such a mess, Trump had no choice but to step in.

Knowles pointed to torched cop cars, assaulted officers, and even an 'illegal alien' allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail as proof L.A. was in serious trouble -- blaming the chaos on Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass' failure to act accordingly, which forced Trump to bring in the National Guard and send in the Marines.

When our hosts pushed back -- noting the chaos was limited to one small area -- Knowles doubled down, saying Trump’s actually showing restraint in the matter... and this kind of tough crackdown is exactly what voters are begging for.

9:34 AM PT -- Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, has responded to Kim Kardashian.

Kim Kardashian is coming out swinging against the Trump administration's ICE raids in Los Angeles ... calling the president's immigration policies "inhumane."

The reality TV star posted a statement on her Instagram story Tuesday, offering her opinion on the violent protests that have erupted in downtown L.A. and Paramount — a largely Latino city in L.A. County -- over the past 5 days.

In her post, KK wrote that she was OK with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents removing violent criminals, but not hardworking people ripped from their families.

President Trump's sounding like a guy who wants his ex, Elon Musk, to come groveling back to him -- which seems to be happening -- but instead of welcoming him with open arms, he's putting him on the back burner.

Trump claimed he has no hard feelings with Musk, but on Wednesday's "Pod Force One" episode, he admitted he was "not a happy camper" when his former head of DOGE trashed his spending bill.

Trump said he was shocked by Elon’s outburst because, as he put it, his so-called "big beautiful bill" is so phenomenal. Taking a cue from every guilt-tripping parent in history, the prez very calmly said, "I was disappointed in him."

As Immigration Customs and Enforcement raids go down across the country, ICE now has its very own impersonator ... and he's wreaking his own brand of havoc in Philadelphia.

Detectives are searching for a man posing as an ICE agent, who they say tied up a woman and stole $1,000 in cash from her at a repair shop last weekend.

Police say the sham agent screamed "Immigration" before tying up the woman for more than 2 hours and swiping her money. The woman was eventually freed by a co-worker long after the suspect had fled in a white Ford van.

In a classic flip-flop move, Elon Musk just admitted he feels regretful about his bashful tweets about President Donald Trump last week -- well, mostly.

The Tesla CEO hopped on X in the middle of the night and gave a vague apology to Trump ... saying he regrets "some" of his tweet about the prez, reasoning they "went too far."

He did not elaborate on which tweets he deemed unnecessary, and Trump has yet to respond to his public declaration of remorse.

Gavin Newsom says Los Angeles is just the start of President Trump's plan to tear down Democracy across the whole country ... and he's urging all Americans to stand up against POTUS.

The Cali governor issued his alarming address Tuesday evening ... a few hours after a federal judge refused to grant an emergency restraining order to block Trump from federalizing the CA National Guard, and from deploying U.S. Marines on the streets of Los Angeles.

Newsom said, "This isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us."

The chaos erupting in L.A. is less about politics and more about a serious leadership problem, according to a Texas congressman.

Rep. Wesley Hunt didn't hold back on "TMZ Live" Tuesday -- telling us the federal government had to deploy 700 Marines and thousands of National Guard troops to restore order in the City of Angels ... because it's all about protecting American streets from looking like a war zone.

Wesley makes it clear to us this isn't about red vs. blue states -- it’s about who's actually leading with backbone, and in his eyes, Texas is setting the bar.

As protests against ICE raids have continued in Los Angeles this week -- sometimes violently -- one particular cop was singled out for ridicule as he stood in riot gear with his squad on the street.

Viral video circulating online shows the moment two protesters in the downtown crowd appear to recognize an LAPD officer as a frequent customer at CAVA, a Mediterranean-style fast-casual restaurant chain, where they claim to work.

The two young adults immediately start hazing the cop with hateful comments, who stands stoically ... as the young lady lists the details of the guy's counter order, and says he's always asking for a discount.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken a swipe at President Donald Trump ... using pop culture to make his message loud and clear.

As demonstrations against ICE continue across Los Angeles in protest of aggressive immigration enforcement, Newsom jumped on his TikTok to throw shade at Trump in a slideshow post featuring photos of the two men together -- all set to Taylor Swift’s hit track "You Need to Calm Down."

The slideshow highlighted a specific verse from the song with the lyrics, "Say it in the street, that's a knock-out ... But you say it in a tweet, that's a cop-out ... And I'm just like, ‘Hey, are you okay?'"