President Trump

R. Kelly is shooting his shot at President Trump in a bid to get out of prison early ... filing for clemency with the Department of Justice, this according to the R&B singer's lawyer.

Attorney Beau Brindley tells TMZ ... he had been working with Kelly on the clemency petition for quite a while before it was submitted Tuesday to the DOJ's Office of the Pardon Attorney.

We're told Kelly is asking POTUS to commute his combined 31-year sentence for two convictions in 2021 and 2022 -- one of which was in Brooklyn, New York, and the other in Chicago, Illinois.

Boosie Badazz says he paid big money for a presidential pardon ... but now he's claiming all he got was a massive bill and an empty promise ... and he wants a big refund.

According to a bombshell NOTUS report, the rapper is taking legal action against political operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman after allegedly shelling out $600,000 to help secure a pardon from President Trump -- one Boosie says never came.

The report says Boosie -- whose legal name is Torence Hatch -- struck a deal with the pair last fall after they pitched themselves as having major pull inside Trump's orbit. Boosie claims they were so confident, they acted like they had POTUS "on speed dial."

Things allegedly escalated on New Year's Day ... when Boosie's lawyer got a call claiming Trump had already signed the pardon and the White House just hadn't announced it yet. But according to the report, the pardon never surfaced ... and Boosie is now trying to recover $300,000 under a clause in the contract requiring half the fee be refunded if no pardon was delivered.

Lindsey Graham's Senate seat is staying in the family ... with his sister officially tapped to take over after the longtime South Carolina senator's sudden death.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced Monday that Darline Graham Nordone will serve out the remainder of her late brother's term ... just hours after President Donald Trump publicly threw his support behind the move, urging she be appointed to fill the vacancy.

Darline may be new to elected office, but she's no newcomer to Lindsey's political orbit. The mother of two was one of his closest advisers, regularly appeared in his campaign ads ... and during his 2015 presidential run, Lindsey even joked she'd be his first lady because he never married.

Donald Trump is changing Air Force One jets like he changes socks ... flying out of the NATO summit in Turkey in an old jet, stopping in England and getting on his new one ... and the flip-flop is all on video.

Check out the clip ... after Trump landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall base in England on Thursday, he walked down the stairs of an old AF1, strolled across the tarmac and boarded the new AF1 -- a gift from Qatar.

As for why POTUS is using two planes and a layover on his way home from the NATO summit ... Trump says he wanted U.S. troops stationed at the base to tour the new plane and he also suggested Iran was trying to kill him as he left Turkey ... plus, there are reports the old AF1 has better defenses than the new one.

President Trump isn't shedding any light on Mitch McConnell's condition ... because he says he's just as much in the dark as everyone else.

Trump was asked about the longtime Kentucky senator's health Tuesday aboard Air Force One while traveling to Joint Base Andrews ... and his response couldn't have been much shorter.

"I have no idea. I have no idea how he's doing," Trump told reporters.

Three more people have been charged in connection with alleged damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to newly filed court documents.

Prosecutors charged Sophie Dennison-Gibby, Justin Carreno, and Cameron Thiers with misdemeanor destruction of property involving less than $1K in damage, according to The New York Times.

The charges stem from a June 20 incident in which Officers say the three were seen removing pieces of the pool's blue liner.

Donald Trump found a new place to affix his name ... an airport ... because Palm Beach International Airport is all set to be rebranded as President Donald J. Trump International Airport!!!

That's right ... as if POTUS didn't have enough named after him, now he's got a whole commercial airport in Florida.

The name change is officially going live on Thursday ... and we obtained an internal memo from a major commercial airline explaining some of the big changes.

First up is the official name change Thursday ... and then on Aug. 18, the airport code used for navigation purposes and airline reservations switches from PBI to DJT.

The historic fountains at Meridian Hill Park have reopened after President Trump ordered a months-long renovation ... but they look like crap ... literally.

See for yourself ... the clear water that once flowed through the Washington D.C. park is now a brown mess ... and it's so bad, it makes the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool look pristine.

There's no way around it ... the latest Trump beautification project looks totally botched ... with the water resembling something you'd see in a public toilet rather than a serene park in our nation's capital.

A federal judge has ordered E. Jean Carroll to be paid $5.8 million after a jury found President Donald Trump had sexually abused her way back in 1996 ... but POTUS is appealing to stop the payment.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued an order Wednesday saying Carroll can be paid the initial $5 million award plus interest ... the civil verdict was reached back in 2023 and Trump put the money in an account, but Carroll is yet to collect ... according to the AP.

The judge's decision follows a long process where Carroll's lawyers requested the disbursement after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict ... and Trump continued attacks against Carroll while his lawyers looked into asking the high court to reconsider their decision.

Former USMNT star Herculez Gomez feels we are headed in a bad direction if President Trump is seemingly calling in favors to FIFA President Gianni Infantino ... because that could mean other world leaders might be inclined to do the same.

Check out the clip ... we spoke with the sports commentator on "TMZ Live" today to ask him what he made of Folarin Balogun's red card suspension ... and he's concerned to say the least.

Not only does he feel FIFA has "opened up Pandora's Box" by entertaining Trump's call to Infantino ... but he also feels this whole situation has brought the United States back to being "that ugly big brother ... that bully," which completely undermines the good work the nation has done as hosts of the World Cup and as a team on the pitch.

Guess the Trump Administration does believe in second chances ... because they are going to be using the same company to perform more repairs on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Check out the clip ... Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum -- responsible for overseeing national parks and landmarks' maintenance -- was on CNN Monday and told Dana Bash the company that installed the liner earlier this year "did a fantastic job" and will be performing a new set of repairs.

He is also adamant the pool liner that was peeled out of the water was the work of vandals ... which is exactly what President Trump claimed since this whole fiasco started.

Nicki Minaj was living it up with the big shots at the White House Rose Garden Lunch ... and she got a shoutout from President Trump who called her hot!

Check out the videos ... Nicki was right at home Monday outside the White House ... and probably felt like a real "Barbie" when Trump decided to voice his appreciation for her and her not-so "small business" ... oh, yeah, and also called her hot -- not beautiful, not sexy ... hot.

Nicki was spotted at the event in a pink dress ... and she sure didn't hate the praise she got from Trump when he said she's "so incredible" ... and "they call it small business, Nicki, but when you add it up, it's bigger than any bank probably in the world, right?"

10:41 AM PT -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino has responded to the backlash on Trump ... saying "Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues."

He adds "During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA's independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies."

The decisions that are made by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee are brought to Infantino who -- despite whether he agrees with the decision or not --always will "respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them."

Donald Trump says we should go to VAR for his self-alleged conversation with FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card that was given to USMNT striker Folarin Balogun on last Wednesday's U.S. vs. Bosnia World Cup match.

Check out the video ... the President of the United States says all he did was ask for a review and he didn't tell Infantino what to do. He adds "that wasn't a foul ... that wasn't even an infraction" and goes on to call the referee who made the call in that match "a little bit suspect" and has "a past."

ICYMI, Trump asked FIFA to review the call that sent Balogun off the pitch in the U.S. vs. Bosnia game last Wednesday, and on Sunday FIFA revoked the red card that was given ... meaning Balogun is good to play in today's U.S. vs. Belgium World Cup Round of 16 game.

10:15 AM PT -- FIFA dismissed Belgium's appeal ... stating the Royal Belgian Football Association is not a party in the proceedings, meaning it has no standing on the appeal of the decision.

The RBFA has made it clear it will continue to raise hell if Balogun ultimately suits up, which he is free to do following the decision.

The Folarin Balogun drama is far from over -- Belgium was granted a last-minute appeal after the USMNT star's one-game FIFA World Cup ban was suspended on Sunday.

Both America and Belgium were asked to submit their arguments to a FIFA appeals committee by 5 AM on Monday ... hours before the two sides are slated to play a Round of 16 matchup in Seattle, according to The Athletic.

Despite the appeal being granted, Belgium is reportedly pissed about the quick deadline ... as the initial decision was not publicized.

The fireworks may be over, but the cleanup was just getting started Sunday morning in Washington, D.C. ... where crews were hard at work clearing the Reflecting Pool after the massive Fourth of July celebration.

In photos posted online, workers were seen cleaning out the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial, removing debris it had collected from the holiday festivities.

The pool appeared to be littered with ash and other remnants left behind following the night's fireworks display and the enormous crowds that packed the area.

Donald Trump thinks FIFA finally made the right call ... and Team USA is the big winner.

FIFA reversed the Americans' top goal scorer Folarin Balogun's one-game suspension on Sunday ahead of the USMNT's World Cup showdown with Belgium ... and Trump wasted no time taking a victory lap on Truth Social, thanking FIFA for "reversing a great injustice."

The move means Balogun -- who was tossed during Team USA's 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina after a controversial red-card -- is now eligible to play Monday in Seattle. That's massive for the Americans, considering he's been one of their biggest weapons all tournament.