Politics

President Donald Trump announced the Kennedy Center will be closing for about two years ... in an effort to complete what he described as a "complete rebuilding" of the space.

POTUS announced the news about the performing arts center on Truth Social on Sunday, where he claimed he consulted with various experts about the best path forward for the venue ... and decided it was best to shut it down completely.

Trump wrote "Interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility" would likely extend the project's duration and added ... "the temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result."

47 described the venue as "a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years."

Trump said financing for the project is already in place ... and declared the Kennedy Center will close on the 4th of July and construction will then begin.

The Kennedy Center's been a touchy subject in recent months ... its board of trustees -- which was overhauled by Trump -- voted to rename the venue the The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in December. Trump's also the chairman of the Kennedy Center's board of trustees.

Last night's Grammy Awards was a nightmare for Ricky Gervais ... at least judging by his stance on political acceptance speeches.

The 5-time Golden Globe Awards host took to X Monday to complain, "They're still not listening."

The comedian shared the comment along with a quote from his final time hosting the Globes in 2020.

Celebs were lining up at the Grammys to speak out against ICE ... but Jelly Roll wanted no part of it, flat-out dodging the topic and calling himself a "dumb redneck" when asked for his take.

Fresh off winning 3 Grammys Sunday, Jelly was pressed backstage about what’s going on in the country RN, but he shut it down fast ... saying nobody should care about his opinion, especially since he hasn’t been keeping up with the news and didn’t even have a phone for 18 months at one point recently.

JR traced his disconnection from politics all the way back to his childhood ... growing up in a "drug-addict household" full of "insane pandemonium" and admitting he "didn’t even know politics were f***ing real" until landing in jail in his mid-20s.

President Trump is taking aim at Trevor Noah for his Jeffrey Epstein joke during Sunday's Grammy Awards, threatening to sue the comedian and calling him a "total loser."

47 hopped on his Truth Social platform Monday to blast the 2026 Grammy Awards along with Noah -- the host of the show. Trump claimed the Grammys were the "WORST, virtually unwatchable" telecast, noting that CBS is lucky 2026 would be the last year it would broadcast "this garbage litter" after a 10-year run.

Then Trump zeroed in on Noah, saying he's almost as bad as the low-rated late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. The commander-in-chief said Noah "INCORRECTLY" stated during the broadcast that Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island, which Trump categorically denied.

Darius Dixson walked into L.A. hotspot TAO as a 2-time Grammy winner for his song "Folded" last night ... but he told us the most important thing was his collaborator Kehlani's speech.

DIXSON told us ... "The most important artists of our time say important things when it counts, and I believe that Kehlani is just doing what she's supposed to do, and I'm gonna stand next to her, man."

ICYMI ... Kehlani went after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement head-on Sunday.

During her acceptance speech, she said, "Everybody is so powerful in this room, and together we're stronger in numbers to speak against all the injustice going on in the world right now."

Don Lemon was welcomed with a rousing standing ovation at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy Awards party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Saturday ... after his hugely controversial arrest.

As you know ... Lemon was arrested Thursday night in Los Angeles for allegedly co-conspiring with protesters to disrupt a church service in Minneapolis. Of course, Lemon contends that -- as a journalist -- he was just reporting on the events taking place.

The Trump administration seems to have turned Don into a folk hero of sorts, representing the fight against what many view as an assault on the institutions of America's democracy.

The Rock's daughter, Ava, can say whatever she wants now that she's left WWE ... and her first free words were quite liberal indeed ... and directed straight at Donald Trump.

Simone Alexandra Garcia Johnson tweeted, "and now that i can say this with my full chest, [middle finger emoji] ice and that entire administration."

This comes after Ava announced Friday she would not be renewing her contract with WWE, which just expired.

Melania Trump is making serious noise at the box office.

The First Lady's big budget documentary, "Melania," pulled in $7.04 million during its opening weekend, easily beating expectations and marking the largest opening for a non-fiction film in the past decade, according to Deadline.

The debut topped the previous record holder, 2023's "After Death," which opened to $5 million. What makes the win even bigger -- early projections were far more modest. Pre-release estimates had the film opening between $3 million and $5 million, while some analysts predicted an even smaller turnout.

A 5-year-old boy whose detention by ICE agents sparked national outrage is finally heading home.

Liam Conejo Ramos returned to Minneapolis on Sunday with his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, after the two were released from a family detention center in Texas following nearly two weeks in custody. Footage obtained by ABC News shows the father and son boarding a plane back to Minnesota, with Adrian carrying his sleeping child.

"I'm happy to finally be going home," Adrian told the network.

Brett Ratner makes an appearance in the latest dump of the infamous Epstein Files ... sitting next to Jeffrey Epstein and two redacted women in newly released photos.

The director -- who helmed the new documentary "Melania" about First Lady Melania Trump -- wears a white shirt in the photo and leans in close to a woman sitting next to him.

His arms are wrapped around the youthful woman's waist from behind ... and she's leaning into Epstein, who has another woman to his right.

Vic Mensa just got back from Minneapolis ... and, he says ICE is engaging in state-sponsored terrorism in the city.

We caught up with the rapper in Los Angeles earlier this week ... and, he says the federal agency isn't just killing people -- they're attacking citizens with sonic cannons and more which might affect them for life.

While it's a scary situation out in Minneapolis, Mensa's not at all phased ... telling us, as a Black man in America, this isn't the first time he's scene this kind of response by law enfoircement to protesters.

Jeffrey Epstein says one of Donald Trump and Marla Maples' friends had a serious foot fetish ... once stealing her high heels and going to town on it!

The disgraced financier made the allegation in an email to Deepak Chopra from 2016 -- released as part of the Department of Justice's massive file dump Friday -- in which Epstein says Marla can tell Deepak "the story of her friend who was caught having sex with her shoes."

Chopra asks if Epstein means having sex with Marla's shoes on ... but, Epstein says he doesn't -- he means her friend was caught cutting holes in the back of Marla's shoes and doing the deed.

The new documentary about First Lady Melania Trump might not win an Oscar at next year's Academy Awards ... but it seems her fans will loyally defend it -- because the Rotten Tomatoes audience score is through the roof.

"Melania" came out in theaters Friday ... and early reviews show as sharp a split as any between the Democrat and Republican parties.

At the time of publishing, critics gave the doc just a 12% on Rotten Tomatoes -- put into context, just 2 of the 17 uploaded critic reviews are positive.

President Trump sicking federal prosecutors on Don Lemon for reporting live from an ICE protest could have massive implications for our democracy ... and the decision to charge the former CNN host with federal crimes is sparking a spirited debate between attorneys Mark Geragos and Harvey Levin.

Mark and Harvey -- hosts of the "2 Angry Men" podcast -- have vastly different views on what played out in Minnesota this month ... when Don reported on an anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service.

The feds arrested Don and charged him with a couple crimes, alleging he was part of the protest and not just an independent observer reporting on a newsworthy event. Harvey says the charges are bogus and based on lies, and he's taking it as an attack on the free press, which he says is a bad sign for the future of democracy in the United States.

Former CNN host Don Lemon got hit with federal charges for reporting from an ICE protest, but he's getting one-upped by CNN reporter Veronica Miracle ... 'cause she just got hit with tear gas during her wild live shot from an ICE protest.

Check out this footage that just aired on CNN ... Veronica is reporting live from an ICE protest Friday in downtown Los Angeles when all of a sudden the crowd is tear gassed ... and she gets a face full of chemical irritants.

Veronica toughs it out and continues with her report ... and it looks like she also got hit by a non-lethal round of some kind.

Don Lemon says journalists at CNN, CBS and other news organization need to grow a spine and push back against corporate influences that want to skew news coverage to curry favor with President Trump.

A defiant Don made the call to action Friday on his online show ... admitting he was late after having a busy day fighting federal charges for covering a recent protest.

Don thanked all his friends in the media for reaching out and having his back, but he went a step further and said they need to stand up to corporations that are putting their paws on the news and trying to exert influence and bend the knee to Trump.