President Trump

Donald Trump has a simple defense in the lawsuit filed against him by former 'Apprentice' contestant Summer Zervos ... she's a liar and truth is a defense.

Zervos sued Trump for defamation after he said she was making up the story he allegedly sexually assaulted her during a 2007 business meeting at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Zervos couldn't sue for sexual assault because of the statute of limitations, but after he said her case was "totally made up nonsense," she sued him for defamation calling him a "sexual predator."

NASCAR champ Martin Truex Jr. says his White House visit Monday to meet President Trump was "amazing" ... calling it a huge honor he would NEVER consider passing up.

It's a MUCH different opinion than some NBA and NFL players -- but Truex tells TMZ Sports he considers NASCAR to be "very patriotic" and he's proud to be an American.

Truex was invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. after winning the 2017 Cup Series title -- and on his way out, he RAVED about the experience.

"Oh my God, it was amazing. The president was an unbelievable host. He showed us everything that he didn't have to show, so it was really cool."

We mentioned the controversy with other athletes boycotting Trump's White House -- and Truex said the thought of turning down Trump never crossed his mind.

"I mean, I think it's a huge honor. Huge honor for me and my team and for them to invite us was amazing, so I would never pass it up."

Sen. Marco Rubio is once again breaking from Donald Trump ... defending Colin Kaepernick's right to protest and telling TMZ Sports why he absolutely SHOULD be on an NFL roster.

"Look, I support his right to stand for what he does," the republican senator tells us ... "I don't agree with what he did but I support his right to do it."

"But if we're just talking football ... there aren't 63 better quarterbacks in the world."

FYI, Rubio is assuming there are 64 quarterbacks currently on NFL rosters.

Rubio said he's not sure if the NFL owners actually colluded against Colin, as Kaep is alleging in his case against the league ... but he certainly believes Colin has the talent to play with the best in the world.

The Philadelphia Eagles have officially been invited to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win ... and now the question is -- who's gonna show up?

The folks at 1600 Penn. announced the invite Thursday afternoon, saying "President Trump looks forward to welcoming the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House on June 5th to celebrate their Super Bowl LII win.”

The Eagles seemed to accept the invite saying ... they're "working through the logistics of a trip to Washington DC, including a visit to the White House, on June 5th."

Here's the thing ... several prominent players have made it VERY clear they have no interest in meeting up with Trump ... including Torrey Smith, Chris Long, Malcolm Jenkins and Dannell Ellerbe.

FYI -- the last team to be so outspoken about Trump -- the Golden State Warriors -- had their White House invite pulled after Stephen Curry opposed the visit.

So, while the whole team might visit the nation's capital next month ... there probably won't be perfect attendance when the players head over to Trump's crib.

Washington Redskins rookie RB Derrius Guice says he wouldn't be opposed to Donald Trump attending his games and says visiting the White House would be the "chance of a lifetime."

The former LSU star touched down at LAX for an NFLPA Rookie Premiere event ... rockin' his brand new Young Money diamond chain, given to him by Lil Wayne (he's signed to Weezy's agency).

But since Guice will be playing in D.C., we asked if he had any strong feelings about the President ... and he made it clear he has no animosity towards the guy.

"I mean he's running this country. Whatchu want me to do, hate a guy who's running this country? I stay in my lane, he stay in his."

When asked if he would accept an invite to visit the White House if Washington wins the Super Bowl, Guice explained why he would.

"If I get the chance, yeah. That's the chance of a lifetime," Guice said ... "They got a lot of history in that White House."

Dallas Cowboys coaches had a heated meeting about the team's decision to take a knee as a team last season with one coach saying, "Who gives a f**k what the President says."

It's all part of a docuseries featuring the Cowboys called "All or Nothing," which featured a look inside a real team conversation surrounding the anthem protest.

Before the Sept. 25 game against the Cardinals -- days after President Trump made inflammatory comments about players kneeling for the anthem -- Jerry Jones told the team he wanted everyone to take a knee in unity before the song. But he made it clear, when the music plays, "I want you to stand."

"I want us to, in front of God and everybody, walk out there together, all of us, and kneel down in the name of unity."

Jones goes on to say ... "Then they’re gonna play the National Anthem. And I do want you to stand with me. I do want you to stand."

After the game, head coach Jason Garrett talked to his coaching staff about the team's show of unity ... and it got intense.

O-line coach Frank Pollack says ... "What happened to blocking out the f*cking noise? Who gives a f*ck what the President says?"

"Let’s get our focus on what we’re trying to do. All this is doing is distracting us from what we’re trying to f*cking accomplish."

President Trump's call to Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr. left a lot to be desired ... according to James.

We talked to him Wednesday on the heels of his $241k donation to the Waffle House shooting victims and their families ... and his Monday phone call from the White House. While James was quick to thank the Prez for reaching out, he also described the conversation as "lackluster."

It's worth noting, the call came 22 days after James heroically wrestled an AR-15 from a gunman ... saving countless lives. He acknowledged, Trump's a busy guy.

James also revealed he's having trouble at his job due to one giant misperception about him. Still, he says he's focused on his mission -- he just started a community service group in Nashville.

Ex-UFC star Tim Kennedy -- a U.S. Army Special Forces sniper -- doesn't believe waterboarding should be considered torture ... and to prove his point, he turned the hose on himself.

Yep, Kennedy and his pals waterboarded each other for roughly 45 minutes on Friday ... and barely even flinched.

So ... why???

Kennedy says the move was to show support for Gina Haspel, Trump's pick to lead the CIA. Haspel has been criticized for using waterboarding and other interrogation methods at black sites during her CIA career.

"It’s not torture!!!!" Kennedy wrote ... "Hell we had elk tacos and wine afterwards. Wake up people. #waterboarding."

Kennedy also described -- in detail -- the waterboarding technique -- "They wouldn’t tell me when they were going to put the towel on they would just smash it on my face and start pouring. You can’t hold your breath while they do it because the water runs down your sinuses. The water run through your eyes, down your nose, and pools at the back of your throat."

Still, seems Haspel could have an uphill battle -- with people like John McCain arguing against her nomination due to her connection to questionable interrogation methods.

If John McEnroe reconsiders and accepts Donald Trump's million dollar offer to play Serena or Venus Williams ... one major celebrity has already picked the women to win.

"Man, Serena and Venus all the way," Common told us.

Of course, Common's a little biased ... he used to date Serena back in the day -- but maybe that's why he's confident Johnny Mac would take the "L" if they really throw down on the court.

As we previously reported, McEnroe says Trump made a real effort to make the $1 Mil Battle of the Sexes match a reality ... but John says he had no real desire to compete against a female.

John McEnroe says Donald Trump offered him $1,000,000 to play a tennis match against Serena or Venus Williams ... but he shot it down.

"I was calling a match and suddenly I get this envelope and it's from Donald Trump," McEnroe said on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger."

McEnroe didn't specify WHEN Trump sent the envelope -- only noting it was before he became President.

So, why'd John turn it down?

"It's never been something where I was like ... I wanna go play a woman in a match."

You gotta watch the clip ... John is pretty confident he'd win -- reminding everyone he was once the #1 player in the world.

Melania Trump is being accused of plagiarizing material from the Obama administration, but the First Lady is firing back ... saying it's not what it seems.

Melania launched her "Be Best" initiative -- promoting online safety for kids -- Monday at the White House, but she's catching heat because the pamphlet attached to her campaign is a nearly exact copy of a pamphlet published in 2014 ... while Michelle and Barack Obama were in the White House.

The pamphlet's cover, text and images under the Obama era are almost exactly the same as Melania's version. The text inside the pamphlets are the same.

Melania's office responded to the backlash and told us, "Mrs. Trump agreed to add Be Best branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within." Her office went on to say the Federal Trade Commission, which originally authored the pamphlet, was excited Melania included it in her campaign.

The White House website initially said the material was written "by First Lady Melania Trump and the Federal Trade Commission." After the backlash, it's been changed to "a Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump."

The actor who played Tim Allen's eldest on "Home Improvement" wants to end the stereotype associated with "The Simpsons" character Apu, and he's donating a lot of money to make it happen.

Zachery Ty Bryan gave $25k to the Apu Screenwriting Contest, which is being spearheaded by producer Adi Shankar. Shankar's contest is crowdsourcing short scripts for Apu that do NOT involve Indian stereotypes.

The contest got a big up from Kanye West, who shared Shankar's contest announcement on social media, and Zach, who just worked with Adi on a film, has more in common with Kanye than just saving Apu. He's also a massive Trump fan, and says it's time for all Americans to get behind 45.

His relationship with Tom Brady might be over, but Donald Trump's still cool with Bill Belichick -- with POTUS appointing the Patriots coach to his new Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.

Trump will be appointing a handful of his pals to the council including Herschel Walker, golfer Natalie Gulbis, beach volleyball star Misty May-Treanor and Mariano Rivera ... according to Axios.

Remember, Belichick has been friends with Trump for years and famously wrote him a letter back in 2016 congratulating him on a "tremendous campaign."

Gulbis and Walker have both appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice" with Trump.

The point of the council is to help find ways to motivate kids to be more active.

Belichick spoke about the new position, saying "The Council's mission aligns with my beliefs and several of the Bill Belichick Foundation's goals and values as they relate to sports, youth athletics and personal health and wellness."

"The physical fitness of children in our country is an apolitical issue that is extremely important to our future. When I was contacted by Ivanka Trump and asked to participate, I was humbled to be asked and honored to accept, as I would have done for any administration."

If you're thinking no one would pay $28k to see Donald Trump naked, think again because Zak Bagans did -- but wants to make it clear he's just in it for the history of it ... and maybe some dough.

The "Ghost Adventures" star and Haunted Museum owner outbid everyone for "The Emperor Has No Balls" statue ... better known as "the naked Donald Trump statue" Wednesday at Julien's Auctions.

The statue was made by West Coast anarchist collective INDECLINE and Zak says he was drawn to its mysteriousness. Five naked Donald Trumps popped up around the U.S. last year and at the time no one knew where they came from. The one Zak bought is the only one that wasn't ruined or confiscated.

It was estimated to fetch $20k at auction, but Zak was willing to pay $8k more than that. He's clearly betting the value will only go up, and someone will overpay him down the line.

Damon Wayans Jr. thinks Kanye West's forgetting what life was like before he was a celebrity, and that's why he put on the MAGA hat, but ultimately, he's willing to let the whole thing slide.

We got Damon Wednesday at LAX, where he admitted he's not the biggest fan of Kanye's music -- but he thinks the comment he made about President Trump and slavery during "TMZ Live" will earn him a new fan base. Damon's even got a name for them.

Julius Erving says he's not hurt by Kanye West's comments about slavery being a choice -- he's more hurt by comments that have come out of Donald Trump's White House.

We spotted the NBA Hall of Famer at Ronald Reagan airport in Virginia on Wednesday -- and with such an extensive background in civil rights activism, we had to ask about the Kanye West interview on "TMZ Live."

"He's entitled to his opinion," Erving said.

As for the impact of Kanye's statements on slavery, Erving explained -- "It doesn't hurt me personally because he's only one individual."

"It hurts more to hear things that are coming out of the White House."