White House

President Trump is speaking out about the killing of George Floyd, saying federal law enforcement is on the case ... and promising there will be justice.

POTUS tweeted Wednesday about George's death, saying ... "At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd."

He went on to say, "I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement. My heart goes out to George’s family and friends. Justice will be served!"

It's interesting ... we already knew the FBI was involved, but the fact the DOJ is jumping in right away as well is pretty telling. Seems the President is aware of how angry and fed up millions of Americans are after seeing the video of George's killing.

It's a more emphatic reaction than he had several days after the video surfaced of Ahmaud Arbery getting shot to death -- saying it was a horrible thing, and he was awaiting the results of several investigations.

In any case, it's good to see the case has caught the attention of the most powerful person in the country ... who can actually do something about this at the highest level.

The eagle has landed in D.C. for 'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic, whose legal team is hoping they can get the President's ear ... and they even got their elevator pitch down to a tee.

Eric Love -- who's heading up the team of top-notch attorneys out of Fort Worth, TX -- came on ''TMZ Live'' Wednesday with a major update on their cross-country road trip down to the nation's capital, in hopes of receiving presidential pardon for Joe from Donald Trump.

He says they've finally arrived, and are out cruising the town parading their huge bus around ... ya know, the one with the piercing "PARDON JOE EXOTIC" wrap on both sides.

Anyway, that's not even the biggest news from their touching down -- Eric claims DT's aware of their presence. Citing his own sources, Eric says Trump and some of his fam know the dealio -- Secret Service does too, apparently -- but there's still no guarantee of getting a meeting with the guy at this point. Not to worry, though ... they're staying hopeful.

We also asked Eric to dish out a mock 30-second spiel on why Joe should get sprung. Watch ... sounds like Eric's gonna appeal to Trump's sense of being wronged and targeted.

Megan Rapinoe says Donald Trump is a "white nationalist" who's screwed over his own supporters ... and admits she's considered running for office herself one day to help make things right.

"We have a white nationalist -- I think -- in the White House," Rapinoe told VICE TV's Anand Giridharadas.

"And, the spewing of hate and the other'ing of the rest of the country has only led to more rife between people and more despair and more anxiety and more fear going forward."

Rapinoe -- a very outspoken critic of POTUS since he took office in 2017 -- also says on VICE's "Seat At The Table" (airs Wednesday) that Trump is also hurting his own supporters.

"It's not like he's giving them a bunch of jobs. It's not like he's made life really better for them. He's just given them this false reason why maybe they're not happy with their lives. There's been no sort of path forward."

Rapinoe's public criticisms of Trump have caught his attention in the past -- most famously when she declared she was "not going to the f**king White House" if Team USA won the 2019 World Cup.

There are conflicting reports about whether Trump ever seriously invited the team -- but regardless, they didn't go.

But, get this ... Rapinoe was asked straight-up if she's ever considered getting into politics when her soccer career wraps up -- and it's clearly something she's thought about.

"I'm not totally shutting the door but it seems wild," Rapinoe says.

As for her dream political job, Megan admits, "President, of course."

"If I'm going to do it, I want the biggest, baddest post."

Joe Exotic's massive new legal team is chomping at the bit to ask Donald Trump for a presidential pardon for the 'Tiger King' ... and they're ready to flood the White House!!!

Eric Love, the super-colorful figure leading Joe's legal team, just checked in from the HQ in Ft. Worth, Texas ... telling us they're hitting the road bright and early Monday en route to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

As you can see ... the big bus wrapped in a plea to get Joe sprung from prison looks all gassed up and ready to go to D.C. ... and Eric says they're gonna enjoy the weekend then get down to brass tacks.

As we first reported ... Joe's legal team produced a Texas-style video asking POTUS for a pardon, claiming the 'Tiger King' is not only NOT GUILTY of trying to get Carole Baskin whacked ... he was also FRAMED.

Joe's army of lawyers will attack on all fronts ... they're appealing Joe's conviction, asking Trump for a pardon and even pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of people involved in Joe's criminal trial.

As you know ... there's also evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind with Joe, because he told us his testimony against Exotic was "payback" and he wished he could've done even more to hurt Joe.

And, as we previously reported ... Trump actually joked about a pardon for Joe when talking about the 'Tiger King' at a coronavirus briefing.

Vice President Mike Pence is going away for a little while -- the Veep is reportedly self-isolating after someone in his own office tested positive for coronavirus.

Pence is self-isolating away from the White House, which would explain his absence from a meeting with President Trump and other top military officials Saturday, according to Bloomberg. He's staying home out of an abundance of caution says Bloomberg, noting he hasn't tested positive himself. Unclear how long MP will be in isolation, or if it'll be a full quarantine.

Of course, this comes after his press secretary, Katie Miller, recently tested positive. She's usually in close contact with Pence, as well as others on the coronavirus task force. Miller is also married to Stephen Miller, who's a key member of Trump's administration at the WH.

As for DT, no word yet if he'll shutter himself in like his #2. One of Trump's personal valet of his also tested positive for coronavirus, as have several Secret Service agents.

In the meantime, both the Prez and Vice Prez will continue getting tested daily. Pence is the latest at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to head inside -- Dr. Fauci is currently in a modified quarantine himself ... and other CDC officials are on lockdown too.

The White House is a mess.

Dr. Fauci is headed for self-isolation -- a tweaked version, that is -- after a White House staffer tested positive for coronavirus ... but he's only doing so as a precaution.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will go into what he describes as a "modified' quarantine, which means he'll be working remotely from home for 14 days with a mask on -- but might come and go to his office as needed, albeit solo.

Fauci says he's made "low-risk" contact with the staffer, and therefore, won't go into full quarantine ... unlike two other members of Trump's coronavirus task force, who've already gone into full lockdown themselves. Fauci says he's currently negative for COVID-19.

Earlier last week, it was revealed that VP Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, had coronavirus -- but it's not clear if she's the one everyone's going into quarantine over. Of course, Trump's own valet driver has also tested positive, and reports of about a dozen Secret Service agents dedicated to protecting Trump and others have also contracted it.

Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.

The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.

The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.

The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.

As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.

There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.

North Korea's state-run media is apparently good enough for President Trump -- he's taking their word that Kim Jong-un has a clean bill of health ahead of him at face value ... congratulating the guy on his alleged bounce-back.

POTUS tweeted Saturday -- a day after photos surfaced of Kim at some ribbon-cutting ceremony at a factory there, which the media (that he and his regime control) claims were taken this weekend as proof that KJU is still kicking -- and didn't question the authenticity.

He wrote, "I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!" His words came in the form of a retweet from a user who put up the photos and a caption that reads ... "KimJongUn cut the tape at the ceremony marking the completion of Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory in Sunchon. #NorthKorea." That same user also attached video that purportedly shows Kim walking around the factory grounds on his own two feet, smiling and taking it all in.

Of course, if the photos show what N. Korea says they show, it would be the first public appearance Kim's made since early April -- after which rumors swirled about his health. Some reports from overseas claimed he was actually dead at one point, while others hedged more, claiming he was either on his death bed, in "grave danger" or in a vegetative state.

Considering Kim and co. run a brutal dictatorship and control all the information that seeps out to the world, we, for one, are inclined to take their media's reporting with a grain of salt. Fact is ... we don't know for sure when this visit took place. And, we doubt many outside North Korea do either.