White House

KISS will get their flowers at the upcoming Kennedy Center Honors ... and, the band members couldn't be more grateful for the accolade.

We spoke to Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss from the iconic band ... and, they all expressed gratitude after being bestowed with the institution's highest honor by President Donald Trump.

Simmons tells TMZ ... “KISS is the embodiment of the American dream. We are deeply honored to receive the Kennedy Center Honor.”

President Trump moved Barack Obama's official portrait at the White House ... and now we know exactly where Obama is hanging out these days.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Obama's portrait is now hung at the top of the set of stairs coming down to the landing/railing overlooking the cross-hall entrance to the White House's East Room.

Trump also moved the official portraits of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush ... and we're told they are in the same stairwell as Obama's.

President Trump's describing our nation's capital as a dystopian hellscape where criminals run amok with no law and order ... and he's sending in National Guard troops and taking over the police force -- but crime stats tell a much different story.

Trump and his cabinet are in the middle of a big dog and pony show Monday at the White House, announcing plans for a federal takeover of Washington, D.C.

POTUS says he's sending in hundreds of National Guard troops to "rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor ... and worse."

Donald Trump's doing some redecorating in the White House ... reportedly moving portraits of his predecessors from plain sight into a less trafficked area of the building.

CNN -- citing anonymous sources familiar with the situation -- reports Trump moved Barack Obama's portrait from the Grand Staircase, where more than a million visitors pass by each year, to a private area for staff only.

The portrait -- showing Obama on an all-white background -- is not the first painting of 44 moved in recent months. CNN reports another was replaced by a Trump portrait depicting the aftermath of the Butler, Pennsylvania shooting back in April.

President Trump is still going after Stephen Colbert ... and he says he could find two people on the street who could get higher TV ratings.

Trump went in on Colbert yet again Wednesday while taking questions in the Oval Office at the White House ... and then he lashed out at Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel.

POTUS says all three late night talk show hosts have no talent ... and in Colbert's case, he could pick any random person who could do just as well or better on TV.

President Trump is going where no president's gone before ... the roof of the White House -- and he's talking about nuclear missiles.

The Prez went for a stroll Tuesday morning at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, checking out the grounds from above ... and taking questions from the media while on the rooftop of the West Colonnade.

Ya gotta see the video, it's truly a spectacle ... Trump emerges on the roof with some Secret Service agents in tow and he shouts down to members of the press.

President Trump would hit a home run if he were to grant Sean "Diddy" Combs a pardon for his prostitution conviction ... at least according to Mark Geragos.

The famed defense attorney was flying out of LAX on Monday when a photog asked him about a potential Trump pardon for Diddy.

Mark, whose daughter Teny defended Diddy in his federal criminal trial, says it's looking more and more likely that Trump will give Diddy clemency ... especially after the President's most recent comments on the case.

Candace Owens claims Donald Trump personally intervened in her quest to expose France's First Lady Brigitte Macron as an alleged trans woman -- but CO says she never backed down to 47's demands.

Owens went on Tucker Carlson's podcast last week and told the former Fox News host Trump phoned her to tell her to knock off all the talk about French President Emmanuel Macron's wife being a trans woman. Candace claimed she received the Trump call after Macron flew to Washington, D.C. to request the 47th prez contact her over her viral series, 'Becoming Brigitte.'

Watch the clip ... it's super interesting seeing Candace and Tucker banter back and forth about the two world leaders over Brigitte's alleged secret she's been hiding all these years -- at least according to Candace.

President Donald Trump is lashing out at Charlamagne tha God after the radio host appeared on Lara Trump's show and suggested the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could weaken MAGA's grip on the GOP.

"The Breakfast Club" host joined Lara’s Fox News show Saturday, telling the president's daughter in law he believes traditional conservatives are poised to reclaim the Republican Party -- using the Epstein controversy as political leverage.

"There's a political coup going on right now in the Republican Party that people are not paying attention to," Charlamagne said. "I think this Epstein thing is going to be a way for traditional conservatives to take their party back."

Donald Trump's White House has been in communication with Diddy's legal team about a potential pardon for the music mogul, and we've learned the decision may be determined by the judge's ruling on bail.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Donald Trump is "more than open" to pardoning Diddy, but he wants to wait to see what Judge Arun Subramanian does with Diddy's latest bail petition. We're told if Diddy is granted bail, Trump will not make a decision on a pardon until Diddy is sentenced. If the judge denies bail, a decision will be made immediately.

As you know, Diddy was acquitted on the 3 major charges, and convicted on 2 counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits the interstate transportation of prostitutes. The Mann Act is rarely used by federal prosecutors as a singular charge. Most legal experts agree ... if Diddy's case only involved the Mann Act, no charges would have been filed against him.

President Trump says it's not true that he was "solely responsible" for CBS and Paramount firing Stephen Colbert from his late-night talk show.

Trump hopped on Truth Social on Tuesday and tried to distance himself from the firing, which has stirred up a big controversy.

POTUS says ... "The reason he was fired was a pure lack of TALENT, and the fact that this deficiency was costing CBS $50 Million Dollars a year in losses — And it was only going to get WORSE!"

If the UFC is having a Fourth of July fight night at the White House, Michael Chandler wants in on it BADLY -- telling TMZ Sports he's throwing his hat in the ring ... and he's down to finally settle the score with Conor McGregor!!

We caught up with Iron Mike this week ... and with all the chatter surrounding Dana White and President Donald Trump hoping to put on an Independence Day extravaganza at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next year, we had to ask if he's interested.

Short answer?? Hell. Yes.

President Donald Trump is once again calling on the Washington Commanders to ditch their current name and return to their former moniker, the Redskins.

The former president took to Truth Social on Sunday, writing, "The Washington 'Whatevers' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this."

Trump didn't stop there, also suggesting the Cleveland Guardians should return to their old name, the Indians, claiming, "Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen." Trump capped off the post by urging the teams' owners to "get it done."

Bad news for those hoping Dustin Poirier has one more fight in him after this weekend ... he tells TMZ Sports he's REALLY hanging up the gloves for good Saturday night.

We chopped it up with the 36-year-old ahead of his retirement match against Max Holloway in his home state of Louisiana. Before we got to that, we had to ask him if next year's potential July 4th card at the White House had him rethinking things.

But Diamond made it clear ... even the thought of throwing hands at one of the most iconic landmarks in the country isn't changing his mind.

Donald Trump's relationship with the late Jeffrey Epstein has been under a microscope lately over the Epstein files ... and TMZ has now unearthed a fascinating video of the two men watching a boxing match at the Trump Taj Mahal almost 3 decades ago.

Check out the footage ... which doesn't show anything untoward, but it's still super interesting seeing Trump and Epstein sitting near each other close to the ring where George Foreman is duking it out with Shannon Briggs at the casino-hotel in November 1997.

During the heavyweight championship fight, Trump is seen yapping with everyone seated around him, including Epstein -- who, at one point, appears to be chuckling at something the future 47th president said.

Dana White says they've made so much progress planning for the UFC's historic event at the White House ... that he'll soon be flying to D.C. to meet with President Donald Trump, where the close friends will finalize the game plan!

"We've already put together the whole plan," White told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs daily on FS1). "We'll have all the rendering and stuff done in the next couple of weeks."

Dana added ... "I'm gonna fly out to D.C., sit down with him and walk him through it, see what he likes, doesn't like, and all that good stuff. Fourth of July in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the United States. It's gonna be badass!"