White House

Add Bruce Springsteen backup singer to Michelle Obama's list of milestones completed ... cuz she just hit the stage with The Boss overseas during one of his shows.

Check out the video, taken Friday night at Bruce's concert in Barcelona. You see Michelle and actress Kate Capshaw join Bruce's bandmate, Patti Scialfa, behind the mic to sing background on Springsteen's hit "Glory Days."

Michelle is all smiles as she belts out the tune, even jamming with a tambourine.

No sign of her hubby, former President Barack Obama, but you gotta imagine he and Kate's husband, Steven Spielberg, were watching in the wings.

As we reported ... Bruce, Barack, Michelle, Steven and Kate all grabbed dinner together in Barcelona Thursday night -- a day before the big show.

Patti appears to have been at the dinner as well, so it's possible they planned the special guest appearance over some good grub.

A baseball signed by President John F. Kennedy during an historic trip to Venezuela in late-1961 is up for auction, one of the most coveted presidential John Hancocks, and the ball could sell for upwards of $200K!

The Spalding "Associacion Venezuela de Baseball Professional" ball that SCP Auctions is selling was signed on December 18, 1961, shy of two years before Kennedy's tragic death, when the first-term president traveled to meet Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt.

A newspaper reporter named Julio Messuti carried around the ball for days, hoping JFK would sign it ... and as the trip drew to a close, he got his chance, somehow getting by Secret Service and reaching Kennedy, who signed the ball.

The paper El Universal published a photo of POTUS signing the ball.

There's a massive market for baseballs signed by U.S. presidents -- the rarer, the better -- and there aren't that many JFK-signed balls that have been authenticated.

"As far as sports memorabilia goes, there is high interest in baseballs signed by our past Presidents, with the game being America's National pastime going back over 125+ years," David Kohler, SCP president, told us.

"JFK signed baseballs are some of the rarest in all the collecting community with only a handful ever authenticated by the foremost experts."

As we reported in 2020, Donald Trump signed baseballs were selling in the $2,000 to $3,000 price range -- a stark contrast from the $1,000 price point memorabilia shops were getting when he first assumed the White House in 2017 -- despite his polarizing persona.

There have already been 9 bids for the ball ... with the top number currently at $53,594.

Tom Sandoval is ripping anyone doubting the sincerity of Raquel Leviss' mental health treatments ... he says she's really getting help and isn't in some swanky resort.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star called out a couple former castmates by name Tuesday, tearing into Peter Madrigal and Dayna Kathan for casting doubt on Raquel's whereabouts.

Tom was in Van Nuys and grew agitated when paparazzi asked him if he had seen Raquel in Arizona ... Tom says she's in a mental health facility that doesn't allow visitors or phones.

There's been speculation online Raquel is really at a Miraval Resort and & Spa location in Arizona ... but Tom says that's all BS and he seems peeved by all the rumors.

Tom says he went to a resort for some R&R and solo time in the wake of the "Scandoval," but he's adamant Raquel isn't living it up in a posh resort and is truly getting the help she needs.

Remember ... Tom blasted Miraval last week after the resort's social media team played into the speculation that he was going to be there, possibly to see Raquel.

Tom and Raquel have been getting tons of backlash since their cheating scandal rocked the show and blew up his 9-year relationship with Ariana Madix ... and they've both been struggling to keep their sanity, with Raquel seeking treatment as a result of the fallout.

President Biden was played by Vladimir Putin ... according to the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, who says the Russian president agreed to send Paul Whelan home with Brittney Griner but changed the deal during the exchange.

Despite reneging on the agreed-upon swap, McCaul says the U.S. went through with the trade, sending back notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, knowns as "the merchant of death."

"The deal was originally when the arms dealer from Russia was released that it was supposed to be Griner, the athlete, and Paul Whelan," Rep. McCaul revealed this week during an appearance on CNN.

The Congressman from Texas' 10th district continued ... "When they got to the point of the handoff, they call it, the Russians only showed up with one of the hostages, and that was Griner. And unfortunately, the Marine, Paul Whelan, was left behind."

Rep. McCaul believes the Russian president "played" JB's administration.

"Very tricky on Putin's part, and in my view, the Biden administration got played by releasing a very dangerous arms dealer for just one hostage, and not both."

Of course, 53-year-old Whelan, a retired U.S. Marine, has been locked up in Russia since December 2018. Shortly after his arrest, he was convicted on an espionage charge, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The U.S. has always maintained the charges are BS.

As for the details of the negotiations, McCaul is likely in a position to know about the inner workings of the months-long, high-level discussions ... he chairs the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee. He also previously sat on the House Homeland Security Committee.

No candidate for U.S. President will burn up the campaign trail like this one ... Afroman is throwing his hat in the ring, and he picked an appropriate week to make it official.

The rapper just filed the paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission required to run for our nation's highest elected office in the 2024 election.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Afroman's presidential committee is named "Joseph Afroman Foreman for President," and he's running as an Independent. We know you were thinking Green Party, but no dice.

TMZ broke the story ... Afroman announced his intention to run back in December during a concert in Missouri, where he told the crowd about his POTUS dreams -- and while others are focused on 2024, he's dubbed it the 20-20-FRO election. 😉

Afroman's platform will unsurprisingly place an emphasis on the national legalization of marijuana ... but it's still unclear where he falls on other international and domestic issues.

Afroman didn't get high and forget to file his paperwork ... the docs are dated April 18 ... so he got his official business out of the way before 4/20. 😂

Afroman's campaign manager Jason Savage tells TMZ... "Afroman’s ongoing persecution by the overtly corrupt Adams County Sheriff’s Department perfectly highlights that this corruption of leadership has trickled down to law enforcement all across the country. Criminal Justice Reform and Federal Marijuana Legalization remain two of the primary planks in his campaign platform. We are asking for your support as Afroman takes on this great and worthy cause as our Cannabis Commander in Chief."

It will be interesting to see if any other celebs run for president this election cycle -- so far, Afroman's the first to make it official.

Kanye West made noise about trying again, but that was before, y'know ... all his antisemitism.

Ralph Yarl -- the teenager who survived a close-range shooting which may have been racially motivated, is set to meet with the mother of Ahmaud Arbery ... TMZ has learned.

Ahmaud's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, tells us she asked attorney Lee Merritt -- who reps both her and Yarl's family -- if he could broker a face-to-face so that she could lend the Yarls some moral support during this difficult time ... as she went through something similar.

She says Lee thought it was a wonderful idea, and the wheels are already in motion for a sit-down between them in the near future -- although it's unclear exactly when. As you can imagine, Ralph is still recovering from being shot in the head ... allegedly at the hands of Andrew Lester, who was slapped with criminal charges this week and who's been arrested.

You might've heard ... Ralph was apparently fired upon last week after he rang Lester's doorbell -- mistakenly thinking it was the house his younger siblings were at. His family and family attorneys believe race was a factor ... something investigators are looking into now.

In any case ... Wanda says she thinks she can offer some good advice to both Ralph and his loved ones right now -- telling us that the loss of her son, Ahmaud, came under very similar circumstances ... which, sadly, had a much more tragic result.

She says she wants to let them know that they have her support and that they can get through this trying time ... a road she herself has obviously gone down of late. Wanda tells us she'll be praying for the Yarls through all this too ... and hopes they receive justice.

BTW, Ralph's story is already getting national attention ... including from the White House, which we're told has already reached out to invite him for an in-person visit once he's ready.

The White House encountered a major breach, a potential threat to our national security like never before -- nah, we're kidding, and we sorta mean that literally this time.

A very young boy was too little to be held back Tuesday by a North Lawn gate at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The fencing is generally an effective way to keep tourists far away from the President's residence, but this kid found a way onto White House grounds.

It's unclear exactly how the toddler got by, but, presumably, he just wormed through the metal rods -- as he certainly looks small enough to squeeze in without issue.

In any case, this little rascal doesn't appear to have gotten far. As you can see in these pics, WH security intercepted him pretty quickly -- and then escorted him back to his parents on the north side. In one photo, he looks like he's being carried by 2 guards -- almost like he's getting a perp walk or something. 😅

Of course, in reality, they were handling him with care ... the boy doesn't look any older than 4 or so. It also seems the security personnel had a good laugh over the whole thing.

Federal law enforcement sources tell TMZ the boy is Canadian and had stopped at the White House with his family to take a picture.

Like we said, the little guy was reunited with Mama and Papa Bear on the other side -- who appeared relieved ... and maybe a little embarrassed. All's well that ends well, though ... the Secret Service called their impromptu guest a "curious young visitor" who triggered their alarms instantly and who was returned without issue. Sources said Secret Service interviewed the family and determined they posed no threat.

Pras isn't going down without a fight in his political conspiracy case -- he took the stand Tuesday to testify in his own defense.

According to sources with direct knowledge, the former Fugees rapper's attorney called him as a witness this morning. His testimony covered several topics ... such as his background, upbringing, education history and, of course, his career as a platinum-selling musician.

Pras will likely be on the stand for the rest of day and perhaps again tomorrow as he faces 22 years behind bars for allegedly accepting around $88 million from Malaysian refugee Jho Low between 2012 and 2017.

We caught up with Pras earlier this month when the trial was heating up ... but it was unclear whether he'd actually take the stand in the case.

President Biden either had another gaffe in Ireland this past week -- or he really wants to stick to the rest of the world ... or, lick it, rather.

During the final days of his international trip to Ireland, Joe delivered remarks at a banquet dinner in front of state officials -- and toward the end of his speech ... he made a somewhat bizarre request in trying to reaffirm the U.S. and Ireland's commitment to each other.

Here's what he said ... "There’s nothing, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart -- there’s nothing our nations can’t achieve if we do it together. I really mean it."

Then, the strange line ... "So, thank you all. God bless you all.  And let’s go -- let’s go la- -- lick the world. Let’s get it done. Thank you." As you can hear (and see), it seems like JB got a little tongue-tied on that final part ... frankly, it's unclear what he was trying to say.

Of course, some are clowning Biden over this ... either by pointing out that he apparently misspoke ... or facetiously crying foul that Prez is advocating for people to go around licking things in a post-pandemic world, which he clearly was not doing. It was just a slipup.

Donald Trump is doing what he tends to do best in times of crisis -- hitting the links to blow off some steam ... with this weekend being no different for him amid his criminal case.

The ex-Prez was playing a round Saturday morning at his hotel in Miami ... the Trump National Doral, which has four full-blown golf courses to choose from. Unclear which one DT was on in this instance, but he was out there with some pals ... and his MAGA hat to boot.

Dude looks pretty relaxed ... which makes sense, we suppose. This is sorta his happy place, even during the worst of times -- as we've witnessed throughout these past several years.

The only difference now, of course, is that he's under criminal prosecution by the Manhattan D.A.'s Office on 34 felony counts -- most of which stem from the Stormy Daniels hush money incident ... which law enforcement now alleges was directed to be paid at the behest of DT.

He's looked/sounded defiant in the wake of those charges -- especially when he was in NYC this past week to plead not guilty and get processed by cops ... putting on a brave face.

Here, the Don's more mellow, it seems, and there's another thing to consider with this appearance -- namely, the fact that it's Passover right now for Jewish folks ... and not just that, but his hotel there is actually hosting a whole slate of Passover events this weekend.

LSU hoops star Angel Reese has decided she will attend the White House visit with her team after all ... days after she contemplated skipping the visit because of remarks made by First Lady Jill Biden.

Remember, Reese took issue with FLOTUS saying Iowa should attend the White House, too -- a tradition usually reserved for championship winners -- calling Jill's suggestion "a joke."

"In the beginning, we were hurt -- it was emotional because we know how hard we worked all year for everything," Reese said Friday.

"You don't get that experience [to go to the White House] ever ... and I know my team probably wants to go for sure, and my coaches are supportive of that, so I'm going to do what's best for the team and we've decided we're going to go."

"I'm a team player. I'm going to do what's best for the team. I'm the captain."

LSU said Thursday they would be "excited" to celebrate the program's first NCAA women's basketball national championship, leaving many to speculate whether Reese would join them.

LSU will not let a small squabble between its star player and Jill Biden get in the way of a championship party at the White House ... the school just revealed it'd "certainly" accept an invitation despite the tiff.

In fact, according to a university spokesperson, the Tigers would be "excited" to continue the celebration of their women's NCAA tournament title at 1600 Penn Ave. later this year.

Of course, many were wondering if the team would, indeed, go ... after LSU forward Angel Reese said she was peeved over the way Biden invited both the Tigers and Iowa following their championship game on Sunday night.

Reese said on "I Am Athlete" this week that "if the roles were reversed, they wouldn’t be the same. If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House."

She then insinuated she'd prefer it if she could go party with the Obamas instead." They can have that spotlight," she said of the Hawkeyes. "We'll go to the Obamas'. We'll go see Michelle. We'll see Barack."

Biden had attempted to walk back the double invite, with her press secretary saying Tuesday Biden's comments "were intended to applaud the historic game and all women athletes. She looks forward to celebrating the LSU Tigers on their championship win at the White House."

But, in response, Reese said, "I don't accept the apology because you said what you said .. You can't go back on certain things that you say."

Jill Biden needs to apologize to the LSU women's hoops team ASAP ... so says Sherri Shepherd, who tells TMZ Sports the first lady should have never invited Iowa to come along with the champion Tigers for a celebration at the White House.

The television personality made her feelings loud and clear to us about the issue while out in New York City this week ... explaining she thinks Biden only handed out the invite in an effort to earn future votes for Joe Biden.

"You never invite the losing team to the White House," Shepherd said after Jill had opened the White House doors to both LSU and Iowa following their championship game on Sunday night.

"I know you want Iowa to vote for your husband, but stop it!" she added. "Stop it, Dr. Biden."

The topic has been extremely polarizing ever since Jill revealed she'd like to host both teams ... with LSU star Angel Reese laughing off the notion -- and even later saying she's now considering not going for a White House celebration over it all.

"I just know if the roles were reversed, it wouldn't be the same," Reese said on 'I Am Athlete.' "If we were to lose, we would not be getting invited to the White House."

Shepherd clearly believes Reese has every right to be peeved ... agreeing with the Tigers forward and saying, "If it was the other way around, it would never be this situation."

Of course, Biden's Press Secretary tried to apologize for FLOTUS following the backlash ...  saying Jill was simply trying to applaud "how far women have advanced in sports since the passing of Title IX" and "the historic game and all women athletes."

For their part, Iowa said it never received a formal invitation from the Bidens ... and its star guard, Caitlin Clark, seemed to say she wouldn't want to go even if the invite had come.

The LSU women's hoop team thoroughly beat Iowa and are NCAA champs, but Jill Biden says she wants BOTH squads to come to the White House ... a notion Tigers star Angel Reese finds very funny!

FLOTUS made the awkward suggestion on Monday at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver ... a day after watching in person LSU win the NCAA tourney against Iowa at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

"I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do," Biden said.

"So, we hope LSU will come. But, you know, I’m going to tell Joe I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.”

Obviously, the idea's ridiculous. The winner goes to the White House, not the loser. The idea left Reese laughing.

"🤣🤣 A JOKE," the Tigers forward tweeted.

In fact, there was a suggestion Reese retweeted ... the Tigers hoops team should go to former First Lady Michelle Obama's house instead.

Of course, all this comes on the heels of another controversy that directly involved Reese. She got a ton of blowback (and an equal amount of support from stars like Shaq) for taunting Iowa star Caitlin Clark with John Cena's famed "You Can't See Me" gesture as the title game ended this weekend.

We asked the White House if an official invite had been made to Iowa. So far, no word back. We also reached out to Iowa to see if they'll accept an invite, should it actually come.

We covered it all in a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast.

President Biden is apparently skipping King Charles' coronation -- but there still might be a U.S. presence in the stands ... and it could be one of his two favorite ladies.

The Telegraph broke the news Friday ... reporting that they've been told by their Buckingham Palace sources that the King and co. were recently made aware of JB's intentions -- namely, not being in attendance as one of the many heads of state that are scheduled to show up.

That doesn't mean there won't be someone on his behalf, though. Per the UK outlet, he's mulling sending either his wife, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, or his Veep ... Kamala Harris.

In addition to Jill/Kamala, there'll also be a formal U.S. delegation -- which will presumably include ambassadors, diplomats and other personnel ... the White House has said they'll announce those names in the coming weeks.

As for why Joe's bailing ... the word is, he has prior commitments -- although it's unclear what exactly. Here's the thing, the Telegraph reports it's no harm, no foul as far as Charles is concerned. In other words, he isn't taking it personally ... as no U.S. Prez has ever attended a British coronation, so it's not like POTUS is bucking tradition by failing to appear.

There's another thing to consider here, that some are reading into as it relates to Biden and his feelings about Charles and the monarchy at large -- perhaps he doesn't like 'em much.

There are reports that Biden's mother, who was of Irish descent, absolutely hated England (see history for why) ... which, if true, surely might've been communicated to Joe at some point. There's also the Harry and Meghan factor ... which could also be playing into this.

He's been pretty neutral on commenting about them -- but his ex-Press Sec., Jen Psaki, did publicly praise them for speaking up in the Oprah interview, saying JB felt that took courage.

In any case, Joe's gonna be a no-show.

Damar Hamlin's trip to the nation's capital resulted in some one-on-one time with the biggest VIP in the city -- President Joe Biden, who welcomed the Buffalo Bills safety for a sit-down chat at the White House!!

Hamlin was in D.C. to support the Access to AEDs Act this week ... and after meeting with politicians at Capitol Hill on Wednesday, he got a few minutes to hang with POTUS on Thursday!!

"Damar Hamlin’s courage, resilience, and spirit inspired the American people," #46 said on Twitter.

"And what's more: he turned recovery into action – and our country is better for it. It was my honor to have him and his family here today."

And, just like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, it looks like Hamlin brought a gift for Biden ... as he's seen holding a Bills jersey in his lap during the meeting.

Remember, Biden called Damar's family shortly after he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field during Monday Night Football in January ... sending his well wishes to the Hamlins as he faced a long road to recovery.