White House

Tito Ortiz has been a hardcore President Trump supporter for years ... so after the MMA star beats the hell outta Chuck Liddell, he says he wants to take a trip to the White House.

TMZ Sports talked to Ortiz at Kings MMA in West Hollywood -- where Tito was preparing for the Ortiz-Liddell trilogy fight on November 24 -- and we asked if he'd be down to take a trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave ... if he wins.

"I would love to visit the White House. I've been supporting Trump since day 1."

In the past, visiting the W.H. has been a rite of passage for championship athletes -- until Trump was elected -- and many stopped going (see Warriors, Eagles).

Remember, Tito personally knows Trump ... he was on "The Apprentice" back in '08.

The "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" says being down with Trump -- especially for someone of Mexican descent -- ain't always been easy.

"I've lost a lot of fans, but I've gained a lot of fans too."

Ortiz also had a message for the Prez ... who's a big fan of combat sports.

"Donald Trump, keep doing what you're doing, man. I appreciate you. I love your support. And, keep standing your ground, and speak the way all the rest of us Americans need to be spoken for."

The federal government just released a photograph of the aftermath of the blizzard that struck Washington, D.C. last week, and which left a blanket of thick snow over one side of Capitol Hill. Just a single woman survived.

A close distance away, however, the left side of Capitol Hill fared much better, where some light flurries mixed with some colorful landscape to give things a sign of real life.

The long-term forecast calls for considerably less snow on Capitol Hill in the coming years.

Jim Obergefell -- the gay man who took his fight to marry the person he loves to the United States Supreme Court and won -- is scared to death gay marriage could be a thing of the past.

We got the plaintiff in the landmark 2015 case, Obergefell vs. Hodges, Tuesday at LAX, and laid it out in clear terms ... Donald Trump has already fundamentally altered the federal court system and there's a chance the declaration that there's a Constitutional right to marry the person of your choice may be overturned.

His fear has some basis in fact. Trump's 2 additions to the U.S. Supreme Court swing the balance of the court to the right. It's especially important because the gay marriage decision was decided by a 5-4 vote.

President Trump can't take his CNN grudge out on Jim Acosta by yanking his White House press pass ... at least that's what CNN is asserting in a new lawsuit.

CNN and Acosta are taking the extraordinary step to sue POTUS over last week's fiery showdown during a news conference. According to the suit, CNN believes Trump violated its First Amendment right by revoking Acosta's "hard pass" ... thereby hampering his ability to cover the White House.

In the suit, they say Trump and Sarah Sanders are hiding behind the flimsy argument Acosta accosted an intern who was trying to grab his microphone. They point out the video Sanders posted was apparently doctored, and say even Trump later described the incident as not "overly horrible."

CNN says the "sole justification" for the Administration pulling Acosta's pass is "their dislike for [CNN and Acosta]'s coverage" of Trump.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Trump also violated CNN's 5th Amendment due process rights because Acosta wasn't informed ahead of time his credential was revoked.

In fact, Jim posted video of the Secret Service agent confiscating his press pass. The lawsuit -- filed against Trump, Sanders and Chief of Staff Gen. -- seeks to get Acosta's pass returned, stat.

They're likely facing an uphill battle, though.

Conan O'Brien's laughing his ass off a lot these days, courtesy President Trump and co. -- but the problem is they're also stomping all over the late night host's turf ... according to Conan.

We got COB out in the Big Apple Thursday and asked him to weigh in on the White House yanking Jim Acosta's press credentials after his head-to-head with the Prez. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders uploaded a vid she said supported the decision -- but the clip is clearly sped up to make it appear Acosta shoved an intern.

Conan's take? Great production skills on the part of Trump's team!

Conan joked with us about how Trump's news conference antics are inspiring his own creativity.

1:05 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, April has received at least 2 serious threats. The first one came in September ... someone emailed her and said, "Your not black. Your a loser with a big mouth that need slapped. If I ever see you, you're slap is coming. Go eat more s***."

The other came last month. April got a letter from a guy who claimed to be an ex-Army Ranger. He said, "I know who you are; what you look like; where you work; where you live, and what you drive ... so I think I'll pay you a visit soon. Trust me -- it will be the worst day of your life!"

April Ryan has security to protect her from the crazies who might actually view her as an "enemy of the people" ... after a series of verbal attacks by President Donald Trump.

April appeared Thursday on "TMZ Live," and we asked if she was receiving death threats after Trump rudely told her to sit down when she tried asking a question about voter suppression. It's the latest Trump attack against the American Urban Radio Networks Correspondent.

April didn't want to talk about specific threats, but made it clear she has a security team in place, which seems to be a reality of life for White House Correspondents who raise the President's ire.

Ryan made it clear ... she doesn't live in fear and will not back down ... but she's clearly taking precautions.

Congressman Gerry Connolly says CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta was set up by Donald Trump ... set up to humiliate him during Wednesday's news conference.

We got Connolly in D.C. Thursday and he seemed certain, there was a script behind the move by an intern to grab the mic Acosta was holding after the fiery exchange with the Prez.

Trump went full bore on Acosta, telling him he was a terrible person and unfit to cover The White House. By the way, Acosta's been covering 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for the last 5 years.

While ripping into Acosta, Trump accused him of being extremely rude to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. There's no denying Sarah and Jim have gone to battle several times during press briefings -- with the fireworks frequently going off live on the web and TV.

6:37 PM PT -- CNN has come to the defense of Acosta, saying the White House's actions are a threat to our democracy and calling Sanders a liar.

In a statement, CNN said the Trump Administration's decision to strip Acosta's press credential "was done in retaliation for his challenging questions at today's press conference. In an explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied. She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better."

5:03 PM PT -- The White House has pulled Acosta's press credential. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a series of tweets, saying, "President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration. We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern."

She continues, "Contrary to CNN’s assertions there is no greater demonstration of the President’s support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters."

Finally, she says, "The fact that CNN is proud of the way their employee behaved is not only disgusting, it‘s an example of their outrageous disregard for everyone, including young women, who work in this Administration. As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice."

Donald Trump went for the jugular Wednesday ... calling a CNN reporter unfit for his job and a "terrible person" ... and it didn't end there.

CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Trump during a news conference about the President's claim there was an impending invasion by people in the refugee caravan.

It got hot almost immediately ... Acosta pressed Trump, and POTUS erupted in anger.

The President tried to shut Acosta down, ordering him to put his mic down, but the next person to ask a question was NBC's Peter Alexander, who defended Acosta. That further infuriated the President.

And, it didn't end there. American Urban Radio Networks correspondent April Ryan tried to ask a question and Trump rudely shut her down.

And then, there's Yamiche Alcindor from PBS NewsHour, who asked Trump about his comment during the campaign that he's a nationalist. When she said that seemed to embolden white nationalists, Trump said she was asking racist questions.

BTW ... another amazing moment -- Trump was asked if he'd comply with the inevitable demand by the House to release his tax returns, and the Prez essentially said it was too complicated for Congress to understand.

Beto O'Rourke is steeped in politics, but that doesn't mean he has to be politically correct, because he dropped the F-bomb during his concession speech and it may actually work to his benefit down the line.

Beto fired up the crowd during his concession speech and boasted his campaign wasn't contaminated by political action committees. A lot of times, politicians try to sound off-the-cuff but it's actually very, very studied ... in his case, if he planned to drop the F-bomb you coulda fooled us.

He may be down, but he ain't out ... there's a groundswell to make him the guy to challenge Trump in 2020.

Paul Rodriguez -- one of the original Latin Kings of Comedy -- says he's sticking his neck out on this one, but is willing to take the heat ... he's a fan of Donald Trump, although he's had it up to here with his antics.

We got Paul Monday at LAX and asked if he felt his jokes needed to reflect the political climate with Trump openly attacking the Hispanic community ... especially the caravan of migrants heading toward the southern border.

Surprisingly, Paul says no. In fact, he tells us he's actually a Republican ... and mostly backs DT, aside from some harsh language. Check out his explanation on what policies of Trump's he supports and why -- it's pretty enlightening.

Speaking of which ... Paul's got some thoughts on that too, saying we live in a time where one "bad" opinion puts you up on the cross faster than you can say ...

The O'Jays are reaching out to President Trump -- perhaps repairing their fractured relationship -- and giving him permission to use ONE of their songs at his rallies. Yes, it's a total troll.

We got Eddie Levert and Walter Williams -- OG members of the soul group -- out in NYC and asked what they made of Rihanna ripping into Trump for playing "Don't Stop the Music" at a recent rally. She later sent him a cease and desist letter.

Eddie and Walter get RiRi's outrage ... having already fired off their own warnings to Trump in 2016 for using "For the Love of Money" -- the old 'Apprentice' theme -- during his campaign. They did the same for their hit, "Love Train," and you gotta hear them describe what he wanted to do with it!

That's all water under the bridge, though, because Ed and Walt tell us they're willing to let him crank up their newest track, "Above the Law," whenever he wants ... even during his rousing rallies.

If he only heard the title, we suspect POTUS might be all in for using the song. However, we're guaranteeing he'll pass ... IF he listens to the lyrics or watches the music video.

Hint: It's not exactly 45-friendly.

Trump and The O'Jays -- they've come a loooong way since "The Apprentice."

When it comes to President Trump firing off "Game of Thrones" memes to announce U.S. foreign policy in Iran, a "Shahs of Sunset" star says ... hate the messenger, but LOVE the message.

We ran into Reza Farahan Friday on Rodeo Drive in Bev Hills and, seeing as how he was born in Tehran, we had to get his take on Trump's "Sanctions Are Coming" tweet. Perhaps surprisingly, Reza fully supports POTUS and his hard line with Iran ... but there's a catch.

Watch the clip, you can tell it pains Reza to no end to say he's lockstep with Trump -- but says he's trying to focus on the big picture for his friends and family in Iran.

But, don't get it twisted ... he HATES the 'GoT' ripoff the White House used to announce the sanctions. Mostly because it's incredibly insensitive to the very people he claims to be helping with the sanctions!

Donald Trump used "Game of Thrones" to warn he was about to impose sanctions on Iran -- and while his supporters might've been amused ... HBO definitely is not.

A rep for the cable network tells TMZ ... "We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes."

In case you missed it, President Trump tweeted out a meme of himself with a 'GoT'-esque background and font that read ... "Sanctions are Coming."

It's an obvious nod to the hit series' oft-repeated line, "Winter is Coming" ... and it looks like he was trying to portray himself as Jon Snow (or maybe the Mad King?).

President Trump just drew the line in the sand ... if the immigrants who are marching to the U.S. border throw rocks at our troops they will be shot.

Trump said throwing rocks is like shooting firearms. He noted some of the immigrants in the caravan threw rocks at Mexican troops at the Mexican border, and it hurt some of the troops.

Trump says he hopes our troops won't have to shoot, but he made it clear ... if they throw rocks -- to him, that's a deadly weapon and our soldiers can react with firepower.

The marchers are around 900 miles from the U.S. border.

10/31 -- Candace says she never once said Kanye designed the t-shirts for BLEXIT ... calling it a lie. She added, "This is a lie that seems to have made its way around the world; a lie I would like to again correct for the record. Kanye was completely right to feel used in that regard and as I have done personally, I would like to publicly apologize to him for any undue stress or pain the effort to correct that rumor has caused him, his business relationships, or his family. He simply never designed them."

Candace also said Kanye's tweets were "aimed at me and only me, rightfully, for my personal failings."

4:15 PM PT -- Kanye contacted us to make it clear he did not mention Donald Trump in his tweets, and he's getting out of politics altogether.

As for being "used" ... he says he was specifically referencing Blexit, and that's it.

Kanye West says he's been used by people to spread political messages and he's now done with it.

Kanye just fired off a series of tweets apparently distancing himself from politics. He said, "My eyes are now wide open and now realize I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative."

Kanye all but says the culprit is ultra-conservative Candace Owens. He said, "I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn't want their name on it so she used mine. I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it."

Owens had said, "Blexit [black exit from Democratic Party] is a renaissance and I'm blessed to say that this logo, these colors, were created by my dear friend and fellow superhero -- Kanye West."

Ye went on to thank his family and community for "supporting my ACTUAL beliefs and my vision for a better world." He also expressed compassion for people seeking asylum and parents fighting to protect their children from violence and war.

And, he said he supports common-sense gun laws.

Judge Mathis is ripping into President Trump for threatening to withdraw citizenship from children born in the U.S. ... all in the name of keeping Republicans in power heading into the midterm elections.

We got hizzoner Tuesday in NYC, where he gave us his take on Trump's plans to issue an executive order to end the automatic granting of U.S. citizenship to babies born in the U.S. from non-citizens.

Mathis told us he sees right through the tactic, and calls out POTUS for inflaming the immigration issue one week before election day. The judge seems to think most Americans will see things his way come Nov. 6.

He's not alone -- Trump's plan got plenty of immediate backlash, because it's a direct challenge to the 14th amendment ... "All persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."