President Trump

Dear President Trump,

Metta World Peace has a few suggestions on how to prevent nuclear war with North Korea ... and it doesn't involve bragging about the size of your button.

Truth is ... Metta thinks his old pal, Dennis Rodman, may have been on to something when he went over to Pyongyang a few years ago.

"He tried to do the right thing, he just ... it turned out bad," Metta says ... "but his heart was in the right place."

Metta says he's not looking to be a politician -- he just doesn't want anybody to get bombed.

True that.

Meryl Streep's taken a lot of heat in Hollywood for allegedly staying silent about Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct, but she thinks the criticism should be aimed elsewhere ... to 2 women related to Donald Trump.

The famed actress tells The New York Times she's sick of being blasted for her silence in wake of the Weinstein scandal and amid the #MeToo movement ... when she believes Melania and Ivanka Trump should be speaking up, too.

She says ... "I don’t want to hear about the silence of me. I want to hear about the silence of Melania Trump. I want to hear from her. She has so much that’s valuable to say. And so does Ivanka. I want her to speak now."

Streep also insists she didn't know what was going on with Weinstein, and called allegations against him a shock.

As we reported, posters of Meryl with Harvey were plastered around Hollywood last month with the caption "She knew" ... but clearly -- Streep denies it.

Shock photographer Tyler Shields says his biz is booming since he shot the photo of Kathy Griffin holding a bloodied Trump mask -- and he has a plan for Kathy to rebound from the controversy.

We got Tyler at LAX Tuesday where he insisted the photo will actually be good for Kathy's career ... in the long run.

Kathy says she's been blacklisted from Hollywood since the whole fiasco, but Shields thinks she can turn it all round by shooting a documentary about their project ... including ALL reactions to it.

Kenny G says Donald Trump's got some legit golf skills ... but in a 1-on-1 matchup on the green, it'd be GAME OVER for POTUS.

Here's the deal -- Kenny's been tearin' it up on PGA's celebrity circuit for years ... putting in work against the cream of the crop, including 45.

So, when we spotted the jazz legend at LAX, we had to ask if he had the edge on Trump after seeing him tee off up close and personal.

"I'm better!" Kenny told TMZ Sports ... adding that, "I don't run the country."

Eminem's bringing current events -- namely, dissing President Trump -- back to the forefront of hip-hop ... but Coolio says Em might wanna watch his back.

We got the "Gangsta's Paradise" rapper at LAX Friday where he commended Eminem for going where most of the new generation of rappers won't ... tackling politics. He even suggests it could start a new trend in hip-hop.

But, Coolio does have a stern warning. He says it's all fine to be critical of the Prez, but his record shows he'll eventually retaliate. Exactly how is unclear ... although Coolio has a dark thought.

Lindsey Vonn says she won't be representing Donald Trump at the Olympics ... but is she gonna let her actions speak louder than words, a la Colin Kaepernick??

Billy Baldwin posed the question at LAX -- telling TMZ Sports Lindsey has a chance to REALLY stick it to POTUS by taking a page outta Kaep's book at the 2018 Games.

"She wins a gold medal, and as the flag is ascending, does she take a knee on the podium?"

Billy wouldn't say whether or not he thought Vonn would go all-in ... but either way, the Baldwin bro says he's proud of the superstar skier for joining all the athletes exercising their freedom of speech.

"She doesn't agree with Trump's agenda and she's taking a stand. I totally admire that and respect that."

Omarosa's out at the White House, but she's not on the outs with government, and in fact, is already eyeing other federal positions ... TMZ has learned.

As we reported ... Omarosa and President Trump say they're on good terms after her exit from the administration, and we're told she's optimistic their relationship will help her down the road.

Sources close to the situation tell us ... O believes she'd be a good candidate for an undersecretary position. On the more ambitious side, she's eyeing an ambassador role with Nigeria ... due to her heritage on her father's side.

We're told she's also open to a gig in her new home state of Florida ... as a Senior Regional Appointment Person. It's basically a local liaison for Trump's administration. Even if she bolts from government altogether, Omarosa wouldn't go too far because plan B is pursuing a lobbyist gig.

Bottom line ... she's caught the political bug.

Omarosa is officially persona non grata at 1600 Penn ... according to the Secret Service.

The agency confirms it deactivated Omarosa's pass which had granted her access to White House grounds. It's an odd announcement, considering President Trump and WH spokespeople have gone out of their way to say she wasn't fired.

Our sources tell us Omarosa's swift exit was prompted by a blow up during the White House holiday party Tuesday night. The Secret Service denies its agents physically removed her from the event.

As we first reported he would, Trump tweeted a very brief -- 11 words strong -- but kind send-off Wednesday afternoon.

Like we said, it's just odd -- the Secret Service statement about her access definitely flies in the face of the White House saying Omarosa would stay on until Jan. 20.

Michael Steele didn't hold back ... he blamed President Trump for forcing the RNC's hand to resume funding to what Steele calls a pedophile's campaign for U.S. Senate.

We got the former RNC chief on Capitol Hill Friday and asked about Roy Moore's on-again, off-again support from the Republican Party following allegations of sexual misconduct with teenagers when Moore was in his 30s.

One woman claims Moore tried forcing her into giving him oral sex when she was 16.

Steve Bannon's throwing serious shade Mitt Romney's way, and it's all over the Trump administration's push to get Roy Moore into the U.S. Senate.

We got President Trump's former senior adviser leaving the Willard Hotel in D.C., and asked if Romney calling Moore a disgrace to the G.O.P. would hurt Trump's efforts. Bannon took a dismissive shot right back at Mitt.

Bannon was in a much better mood about the luncheon he'd just left with Black Americans for a Better Future. He actually called it "the best time" he's had in a while.

The former 'Apprentice' contestant who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault in 2007 is back in court ... showing her defamation suit against the Prez is not going away.

Summer Zervos attended a hearing Tuesday at the Manhattan State Supreme Court ... flanked by her lawyer, Gloria Allred. Trump's lawyers argued for the case to be dismissed, while Zervos' team worked on where and how to get the Prez on the stand.

As we reported ... Zervos sued Trump back in January, claiming he defamed her when he publicly called her a liar and referred to her allegation as "totally made up nonsense."

Summer appeared on season 5 of "The Apprentice," and alleges Trump assaulted her during a meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel about working for him. She claims he open-mouth kissed her, grabbed her breasts and asked her to lay in bed to watch TV.

Zervos and Allred were surrounded by reporters outside the courthouse as they left.

Donald Trump's first National Christmas Tree Lighting is gonna be bigger than Barack Obama's last one -- at least when it comes to the amount taxpayer's gotta spend for it.

Federal docs outlining the government's expenses for this year's tree lighting outside the White House show the total tab will come to $128,424.

That includes $11,452 on the sound system, another $11,972 on ballistic glass to protect the Prez and fam ... and $105,000 for general event management services.

The glass will probably look something like this one from George W. Bush's 2007 lighting.

BTW, the expenses don't include the 40-50 foot tall evergreen, which is usually donated, and is different from the 20-footer Melania and Barron got last week to go inside the White House.

We know you're dying to know -- the expenses for Obama's last tree lighting ran $101,421 and did NOT include a new bulletproof glass purchase.

Master P says LaVar Ball is dead wrong for not thanking Donald Trump ​... Telling TMZ Sports he believes POTUS did help get the 3 UCLA players out of jail, and thanking him is the Christian thing to do.

Ball has refused to thank Trump despite the fact his son LiAngelo and the other UCLA players did, sparking a full-scale war of words between the Big Baller and #45.

We got P at LAX and asked him about the whole fiasco, and he couldn't have been any clearer, saying he believes in God and that means he believes in showing gratitude, even to Trump.

"I put God first, so I think that if somebody help you ... that you be appreciative, that's it."

For the record, we doubt LaVar will ever say "Thanks" to Trump, but we're pretty sure he's gonna have some words for P pretty soon.

The Trumps are going full Griswold for the holidays, 'cause they just got a Christmas tree even Chevy Chase might consider too big. Might.

Melania and Barron Trump stood by Monday as the White House holiday tree was delivered by horse-drawn carriage. We're told it comes in at a whopping 19.5 feet in length.

The tree is a Wisconsin-grown Balsam fir provided by the Chapman family of Silent Night Evergreens. They won a national contest for the honor this year.

It's tradition for the First Lady to decorate the tree based on a theme of her choosing ... and Melania seems to be giving her first one some serious thought.

No pressure!

Donald Trump's work in China isn't done yet ...

The mother of an ex-Canadian Football League player -- who's now locked up in China -- is hoping POTUS can work his magic again and bring her son home, too.

30-year-old Wendell Brown -- a former LB at Ball State -- was coaching an American football team in Chongqing, China last year when he was involved in a bar fight and arrested.

Brown claims he was attacked and was forced to defend himself. He claims several witnesses corroborate his story.

Still, he was locked up in a Chinese prison and put on trial. Brown is still behind bars while waiting on the verdict ... despite the fact the trial concluded back in June.

Now, Brown's mother Antoinette says she hopes President Trump will get involved the same way he did when LiAngelo Ball and the UCLA basketball team needed his help.

"My message to President Trump is I pray you have enough compassion to help me with my innocent son that's detained in China."

Antoinette says her son has never been in trouble with the law before -- and she wants him to get home to his 10-year-old son who misses him.

"It's been hell," Antoinette explains. "My son is like one of my closest friends."

Wendell's family has created a GoFundMe page for child care and other financial emergencies.

LiAngelo Ball might just be the answer to world peace ... 'cause Al Sharpton is actually BACKING Donald Trump after POTUS' involvement in the LiAngelo-China saga.

"I think that President Trump speaking to (President) Xi to make whatever arrangements were made ... was good," Sharpton told TMZ Sports in NYC. "He did the right thing."

But, don't expect to see Donald and Al hitting the links anytime soon ... 'cause Sharpton says "even a broke clock is right twice a day."

Also, probably worth noting that we got Sharpton BEFORE Trump publicly demanded 'Gelo and his UCLA bros show him some love.

Still ... it's a start.