White House

T.I.'s Melania Trump look-alike is dealing with a brand new death threat ... one so frightening, it's pushed her over the edge and now police are involved.

Melanie Marden went to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station Sunday night to report an especially ominous and lengthy death threat via text to her personal cell phone. We're told the text mentioned the hiring of an assassin to kill her.

Melanie met with the cops and filed a report.

We're told the sender of the messages to Melanie told her they'd put a tracking device on her car and bugged her apartment. Part of the message read, "I am pleased to inform you that we have been paid to assassinate you by someone very close to you."

As we reported ... Melanie says she'd been receiving death threats almost daily since T.I. dropped his music video with Melanie playing the stripping First Lady. It sparked a ton of backlash, but Melanie insisted she had no regrets about taking the role.

Billy Eichner cannot contain his rage over Donald Trump, and the most recent trigger is the Trump Administration's move to rigidly define gender.

Eichner's contempt for Trump is palpable ... this in the wake of the administration's move to define gender as a "biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth."

Our photog got the "Billy on the Street" star at LAX Sunday, and he doesn't sound overly confident that a blue wave will sweep the country next month.

The former head of the RNC doesn't believe a word of Saudi Arabia's explanation of how journalist Jamal Khashoggi died, and he doesn't buy Trump's denial of financial ties there.

We got Michael Steele Saturday at the L.A. Convention Center during Politicon 2018 and asked what he made of Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor insisting that Khashoggi had gotten into a fist fight inside the country's consulate in Turkey ... which led to his death.

It's clear he thinks the Saudi Arabian goverment's full of it -- as he describes just how unlikely it is for such a scenario to play out ... especially in light of how brutal his murder has been described by Turkish officials. He's said to have been dismembered.

President Trump's watching his worst nightmare unfold -- more than 1,500 immigrants marching from Honduras to the U.S., and he's vowing our troops will stop them ... if Mexico can't get the job done.

The sea of humanity -- which started last week with fewer than 200 people -- is currently approaching Mexico, hell-bent on steaming toward the U.S. border. Images like this caught Trump's eye Thursday morning, and he started leveling a slew of threats -- including cutting off aid to Central American countries and demanding Mexico intervene.

For what it's worth ... Mexico seems to have gotten the message, and is sending hundreds of federal cops to try to stem the caravan.

A very similar situation unfolded earlier this year when a group of 1,200 people set out for the United States. Only about 150 made it to the border crossing at Tijuana, seeking asylum.

The leader of the free world is a racist, and Donald Trump's history of prejudice against minorities dates back long before he became POTUS ... so says Rep. Cedric Richmond.

The U.S. Congressman and Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus didn't dance around the subject ... saying on "TMZ Live" Wednesday Trump is a racist and racially challenged, and the terms are interchangeable when it comes to 45.

Check out the clip ... Cedric says Trump's racism stretches back over three decades to the Central Park 5, and continued through his Presidency with Charlottesville and his attacks against Maxine Waters, Don Lemon and LeBron James.

Cedric says Trump presumes guilt when any minority is accused of a crime, because DT views black people as criminals ... adding Trump's hypocrisy is evident to this day with his defense of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Saudi Arabian Crowned Prince.

Melania Trump's flight was cut short Wednesday morning when her plane suffered a "mechanical issue" that pumped smoke into the main cabin.

The First Lady was on her way to Philly for an event and, just 10 minutes into the flight, the pilot turned the jet back to Andrews Air Force base to deal with the mechanical problem.

A FOX News reporter aboard the flight says Secret Service handed the press corps wet towels to put over their faces to deal with the smell of smoke.

The flight landed safely, and Melania didn't seem too concerned as she deplaned.

There are better ways to voice your displeasure for President Trump than by dragging the First Lady through the mud, and T.I. has gone waaaay too far ... so says former Barack Obama cabinet member Julian Castro.

We got the former HUD Secretary Tuesday at Reagan National, and asked about T.I. portraying Melania Trump as his personal lapdancer in the Oval.

Julian says there's no room for lewd antics in our democracy. Although, we gotta say ... that's a funny response considering Trump's exchange with Stormy Daniels today.

He's adamant mafia rules should apply -- as in, spouses and kids are off limits when bashing Trump, or any other politician. Julian's speaking as a very interested party because he's said he's probably running for Prez in 2020.

James Prince thinks it's stupid to avoid interacting with people who have a different world view, and that's why the rap mogul tells us he's willing to have a conversation with President Trump in the Oval.

J Prince was on Van Lathan's 'Red Pill Podcast' talking about his new book, 'The Art & Science of Respect,' when he said he'd accept an invitation to the White House ... promising to lobby for the black community if he goes to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The Rap-A-Lot Records CEO has tons of experience with famous rap beefs ... so he's no stranger to reaching across the aisle to try and ease tension and settle differences.

Some critics have said Kanye West brought a circus to the Oval, but J Prince says his visit would be totally different.

Check out the full episode with James below, and catch 'The Red Pill' weekly on SoundCloud.

8:20 AM PT -- Stephanie Grisham has elaborated on her initial tweet by releasing a statement, saying, "Like it or not, she is the First Lady and this is the White House. It's disrespectful and disgusting to portray her this way simply because of politics."

She continued, "These kinds of vulgar attacks only further the divisiveness and bias in our country - it needs to stop."

T.I. is going directly after President Trump and the First Lady with a salacious video of a Melania look-alike stripping in the Oval Office ... for T.I.!!!

Melania's office is firing back at Tip for the video he released over the weekend ... it shows him in the Oval, kicking back smoking a cigar. After Trump leaves the White House, "Melania" walks in wearing nothing but her infamous "I Really Don't Care" jacket ... but only for a few seconds.

Suddenly, she's naked and on the Presidential desk giving T.I. full view of ... everything.

T.I. was clearly trying to draw the ire of POTUS ... slapping the caption "Dear 45, I ain't Kanye" on the video.

Melania's rep Stephanie Grisham tweeted, "How is this acceptable? #disgusting #boycottT.I."

No response yet from T.I. ... but seems like mission accomplished for him.

President Barack Obama is turning to one of the greats to help him launch his Hollywood career -- KOBE BRYANT!!!

The Lakers legend was out in D.C. when we asked if he'd been helping his friend, Barry, launch his new Netflix projects and Mamba replied like De Niro in "Goodfellas" ... "Little bit."

Remember, Barack and Michelle recently signed a deal with Netflix to produce scripted and unscripted content along with documentaries and features through their company, Higher Ground Productions.

So, who do you turn to for advice on how make an immediate splash in Hollywood? An Oscar winner.

And, since Kobe's got the hardware thanks to his short film, "Dear Basketball" -- the Obamas clearly feel confident enough to hit up Mamba for some coaching.

President Trump's painting featuring him with Grand Old Party presidents set the internet ablaze during his "60 Minutes" interview -- but it also lined the painter's wallet with cash.

During 45's interview Sunday night, a lot of people noticed Trump had hung up a fantasy painting on a wall somewhere in the White House. It shows Trump drinking what appears to be a non-alcoholic beverage with guys like Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, the Bushes, Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt and other Republican presidents ... who all got booze nearby.

Many art aficionados mocked 45's vanity and called the painting "tacky" and "trashy" -- and also ridiculously and slimmingly flattering. There are, however, fans ... 'cause Missouri-based artist Andy Thomas tells us business has been booming in the 24 hours since his artwork aired on TV.

Andy says he and his wife woke up Monday morning with 25 new orders for prints of his "Republican Club" painting. They typically get only 3 orders a day. He tells us 60 additional orders came rolling in an hour later.

It isn't just the GOP boys getting love -- Andy says prints of another painting he did depicting Obama and famous Democratic presidents have been flying off his digital shelves from his website.

Stormy Daniels is taking an "L" in court in her legal war with President Trump -- a judge just dismissed her defamation suit against him.

Stormy had sued the Prez for saying she lied about the mysterious man she claims threatened her in 2011 to stop talking about Trump. She had even released a sketch of the man ... which Trump immediately shot holes in on social media.

He tweeted, "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!"

Monday, a federal judge tossed the suit, describing the tweet as "rhetorical hyperbole" against a political adversary. The court said it would be an unreasonable standard if politicians could sue every time an opponent fired verbal jabs.

It's interesting because ... the judge is characterizing Stormy as a politician. In the rule, he wrote ... Stormy had tried to "publicly present herself as a political adversary to [Trump]."

Stormy's lawsuit seeking to nullify the so-called "hush agreement" with Trump is still active.

Hillary Clinton is still firmly in Bill Clinton's corner more than two decades after his sex scandal with Monica Lewinsky ... with HC now saying he didn't abuse his power over her.

The former Secretary of State and two-time presidential hopeful went to bat for her husband Sunday during an interview with CBS, in which a reporter asked if then-President Clinton should have resigned after being impeached for lying about his affair with Lewinsky.

Her answer was telling ... "Absolutely not." The reporter follows up by asking if his relationship with Lewinsky might've been an abuse of power. She simply says, "No, no."

HC was presented with one last premise that she quickly and brutally deflected at Lewinsky's expense, with the reporter suggesting that a sitting president cannot have a consensual relationship with an intern because the power imbalance is too great.

She quickly interjected with, "... who was an adult" and pivoted to asking why there hasn't been such an expansive probe into the allegations of sexual misconduct against Trump.

Mally Mall says Kanye West is doing great work, trying to help the United States ... and he's nothing less than a genius.

We got Mally outside Staples Center Saturday night where Drake performed, and he sang the praises of Ye.

Mally was especially complimentary about Kanye's efforts to free Larry Hoover, who's serving a life sentence for murder.

Ice-T wants to make one thing crystal clear ... he and Coco are NOTHING like Kim and Kanye, but he does think Ye and Trump are birds of a feather.

We got Ice-T and Coco in New York City Saturday, and Ice had nothing but disdain for the Oval Office meeting.

He thinks Trump is so entrenched in his views, no one's going to change them ... and Kanye was just used by the Prez to score more African-American voters ... or at least that was the plan.

Donald Trump came to a startling revelation last night ... Kanye West is the black him!!!

Alec Baldwin made his return to 'SNL' to parody Ye's Oval chit chat. This one is especially interesting, because they danced around making fun of mental illness.

Also interesting ... most times 'SNL' takes a real event and makes it broader, but this one was pretty much true to form ... with all the hits, runs and errors from Thursday's pre-lunch meeting. The reporters in the crowd were definitely funnier than the real deal ... for sure.