White House

President Trump is pledging $1 million of his own cash toward the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the donation Thursday, but it's still up in the air where exactly the money will go. Sanders said the President wanted reporters to help him decide which organization would maximize the impact of his funding.

Sanders cited the WH Press Corps' research skills and solid coverage of the disaster.

Barron Trump is getting what may be a First Kid's first ... an unofficial portrait with doting daddy, Donald that's destined for The White House.

TMZ broke the story ... artist Barry Wingard painted portraits of Donald and Melania that he wanted to give to the First Family. He went to his congressman, Rep. Mike Kelly, who loved them and agreed to have them delivered to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But Kelly and someone from Trump's staff saw a third portrait of Donald clutching son, Barron, and asked Wingard to frame it so Kelly could send all 3.

The portrait of Barron and his dad was painted from a photo at the Republican National Convention last summer.

As for the final resting place of the 3 paintings ... it's unclear. Kelly's office says they will deliver them to The White House and then it's Trump's call.

The guy with the "Blacks for Trump 2020" sign at the President's Phoenix rally is an ex-cult member ... who was once charged with conspiring in 2 murders.

Maurice Symonette was once a member of the Yahweh ben Yahweh cult, led by preacher, Hulon Mitchell Jr. -- who was federally charged in 1990 with conspiracy in multiple killings, one of which included a beheading in the Everglades.

Symonette himself -- as well as at least 10 other cult members -- was charged in the '90s for allegedly conspiring to commit 2 murders ... this after his brother told jurors Michael helped beat one man and jammed a stick into another guy's eye.

He was later found not guilty.

As we told you ... Symonette runs a website that's pretty out there -- accusing "ISIS & HILLARY RACE WAR PLOT TO KILL ALL BLACK & WHITE WOMEN OF AMERICA" ... among other racially charged allegations.

Apparently, Blacksfortrump2020.com was just the tip of the iceberg for this dude. Good placement, team Trump.

Donald Trump taketh back what he giveth ... he's back to saying there was violence in Charlottesville Saturday on both sides -- left and right.

The President faced reporters at Trump Tower in NYC Tuesday and blamed the "alt-left" as much as the alt-right for the violent showdown.

When he was confronted by a reporter, he hurled an insult and moved on.

Trump scored with one fan ...former KKK leader David Duke just tweeted, "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville and condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa."

Donald Trump finally caved to the public pressure by condemning white supremacist groups at the center of the violence in Charlottesville.

Trump announced Monday from The White House a civil rights investigation has been launched by the Department of Justice surrounding the terrorist attack.

The Prez called out white supremacists by name, saying ... "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans."

Trump took enormous heat over the weekend when he condemned the violence and bigotry in Charlottesville from "many sides" but failed to specifically mention white supremacists.

Anthony Scaramucci is making the most of his 10 days as White House Communications Director, because we've learned he wants to turn his moment in the sun into a TV series or feature film.

We've learned a major Hollywood producer has been in touch with Scaramucci to produce a White House version of "Spin City." There are 2 working titles -- "10 Days in July" and "Attack of the Swamp Monsters." Our vote is #2.

We're told the initial feeling is the concept could work as a sitcom series or a feature.

The concept is an outsider assuming power in D.C. to the great dismay of longtime political hacks who go straight for the jugular.

Anthony Scaramucci's expletive-laced rant to a reporter was recorded, and The New Yorker just released the audio.

The reporter, Ryan Lizza, captured his phone convo with Scaramucci last week, and you can hear the then-White House Communications Director's now infamous reference ... "I'm not Steve Bannon, I'm not trying to suck my own c**k."

The Mooch also accused Reince Priebus of repeatedly c**kblocking him from landing his White House gig. As bad as it sounds, Scaramucci comes off as relatively calm on the audio ... even as he's dropping c-bombs and other obscenities.

Scaramucci resigned from his post Monday. As we told you, rumors he was dating FOX News' Kimberly Guilfoyle might've been the last straw.

Diedrich Bader can't believe President Trump reportedly said the White House is a "dump," 'cause he's been there himself ... and says America's crib is in tip-top shape.

We got the actor and comedian Wednesday in L.A. and asked what he made of the Prez reportedly taking shots at the historic house to members of his golf club in Bedminster, NJ. Seems Diedrich hadn't heard the news ... and he's genuinely shocked.

He tells us he's visited before, and insists it's a structure any American would be proud to call their home. As far as Trump allegedly dumping on it ... Diedrich says it coulda been a bad Trump joke.

Here's the thing ... we know for a fact Trump holds the White House in high regard, and has consistently referred to it as "luxurious." Still, Diedrich's not happy with the suggestion otherwise.

Piers Morgan thinks Donald Trump finally picked the right guy to sort out the White House's mess of chewing up and spitting out staffers.

Piers was leaving Madeo Monday night when we asked him about his take on Anthony Scaramucci, who lasted a whopping 10 days on the job as the White House's Director of Communications.

Enter Gen. John Kelly, who Piers thinks as Trump's new Chief of Staff will bring much needed order to an administration that's become a spectacle of epic proportions.

12:08 PM PT -- The Press Secretary has just released a statement, saying, "Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director. Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best."

That's a wrap for Anthony Scaramucci -- he's officially out as White House Communications Director after only 10 days on the job.

There are conflicting reports as to whether Donald Trump fired him or if Mooch tendered his own resignation -- but the bottom line is he's done.

The move comes just days after his profanity-laced interview with a New Yorker reporter in which he trashed Reince Priebus as a "paranoid schizophrenic" and had some explicit insults for Steve Bannon.

The 53-year-old is also going through a divorce.

Scaramucci's time as Communications Director is believed to be the shortest run in White House history.

It's shorter than Kim Kardashian's marriage to Kris Humphries (72 days).

It's shorter than the run of "Doubt" on CBS (2 weeks).

It's shorter than Conan O'Brien's tenure on 'The Tonight Show' (7 months).

It's shorter than El Chapo's time on the run after escaping prison (7 months).

It's shorter than the time the Chilean miners spent trapped (69 days).

It's LONGER than Carmen Electra's marriage to Dennis Rodman (9 days).

A White House jumper scored a triple -- getting arrested for a third time, she told cops she'll keep returning because she's married to President Trump.

Jessica Rhea Ford was arrested Thursday, but instead of doing the fence thing ... she switched it up and tried to enter as a tourist. She was caught at the visitor center where an agent recognized her from her last attempt in May.

According to docs, Ford stuck to her pattern of warning cops ... informing them she was hopping a bus to D.C. -- and even though a Secret Service agent warned her she'd be arrested, she persisted.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on the attack over "fake news" -- citing the CNN debacle -- then got raked over the coals by a White House reporter.

The Deputy White House Press Secretary chastised CNN over its retracted story ... which connected a Trump aide to a Russian investment fund. She started attacking the media in general too, and that's when The Sentinel reporter Brian Karem went off.

Donald Trump's White House is now complete with 1 First Lady and 1 First Kid ... Melania and Barron Trump have officially moved in.

President Trump touched down in D.C. Sunday evening with his wife and 11-year-old son, along with Melania's parents. Barron was rocking a shirt that proved he was a pro at this sort of thing.

As we reported ... Melania and Barron's move to D.C. has been scheduled since at least March, if not earlier. The Trumps were simply waiting for Barron to finish his 5th grade year in New York before heading south. Now, he'll be attending St. Andrew's Episcopal as an incoming 6th grader ... where sports will play a big role in his curriculum.

Melania tweeted from inside the White House Sunday. Looks like she's getting comfy in her new digs already.

#HomeSweetHome

Cops tell us the jumper was a 17-year-old from Maryland.

Practice makes perfect -- Secret Service agents nailed a White House jumper Wednesday, and this time it went like clockwork.

The Secret Service says the jumper attempted to scale the now infamous bike rack fence around 4:30 PM ET, but agents took down the individual before they made it over. The suspect's been booked for unlawful entry.

This makes SIX attempts to get on White House grounds ... with one suspect making it all the way to a door before agents apprehended him.

The Secret Service has not released any information about the latest jumper.

11:35 AM PT -- A Notre Dame school official tells TMZ the university was aware of the walk-out, and even helped them out a bit for minimal distractions. Students asked ND heads a few days before graduation which exit they should take to cause the least amount of attention. ND didn't fight the protest. We're also told about 99% of the class stayed and received Pence warmly, which they consider a success.

Mike Pence learned the true meaning of the phrase "Fighting Irish" when a couple dozen grads removed themselves from the ceremony during the Veep's commencement speech.

Pence was asked by Notre Dame to deliver the speech Sunday at its graduation, but the moment he stepped up to the lectern ... at least 20 students got up headed toward the back.

It was a planned protest against the Trump administration ... point made.

It's kind of a big deal. ND is a Catholic school ... and Pence is famously Christian. Also, the university is in Indiana ... where he served as governor before being tapped as Trump's VP.

Pence carried on like nothing happened. He fired up the audience and even got some cheers.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz not only has the power to subpoena the reported memo written by James Comey, he also could put his John Hancock on a subpoena for any White House tapes that might exist to either confirm or shoot down Comey's version.

The Chairman of the House Oversight Committee appeared Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and made it clear ... he's noodling over whether to fire off the legal docs that could force the hands of Trump and Comey.