White House

Andrew Yang says it's sad but true -- many Americans are aiming their hostilities over the coronavirus at Asians ... but he's trying his best to be empathetic.

The former presidential candidate -- who's Taiwanese American -- tells us he understands that times are tough for everyone right now, and with tough times comes feelings of anger ... and for some, it creates a need to find scapegoats.

Unfortunately, many Asian Americans like Yang are bearing the brunt of what he calls "racial hostility" ... due in part to people falsely equating the coronavirus' Chinese origins to all Asians somehow being responsible for it. It didn't help Trump started calling it the Chinese virus.

Yang points out that Asian Americans' lives have been upended just like everybody else's by the COVID-19 crisis ... but everyone else isn't having to deal with daily prejudice on the streets because of it, as well.

It's totally unfair, but Andrew's not one for sulking during the pandemic ... he's about solutions.

He's been urging his fellow Asian Americans to not cower in fear, but to "do everything in our power to accelerate the end of this crisis."

Democrats are going to have to wait a little longer before they officially know who will be the party's presidential nominee ... cause the Democratic National Committee just postponed its presidential convention due to the coronavirus.

The DNC just announced it's pushing its presidential convention from July 13 to August 17 in Milwaukee. The move now means the DNC will hold its convention a week before the Republicans hold their convention in Charlotte.

The move also comes on the heels of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden publicly calling for the convention to be delayed as the nation continues to get a grip on the deadly coronavirus pandemic. BTW, there's still no clear timeline on when the nation, as a whole, will have flattened the curve on COVID-19 cases.

Joe Solmonese, the CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, said, "In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention."

He went on to say, "During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders."

Ronald Reagan's Presidential Library and Museum is losing hundreds of thousands during the pandemic lockdown -- so it wants the public to extend a helping hand ... filled with cash, preferably.

It's a pretty sad situation, actually -- a letter was recently sent to all museum members, asking for some help during the coronavirus-mandated shutdown. The Library's doors have been closed since March 13.

The letter, obtained by TMZ, says it bluntly -- the library is bleeding cash daily, about $150k per week.

Give it a read ... the library's executive director, John Heubusch, says without its usual flow of visitors and revenue from ticket sales and on-site vendors ... it just can't stay afloat for much longer.

The library, which notes it receives zero federal funding, says any size donation from members would be greatly appreciated right now.

They're serious about all donations being helpful -- the low-end suggested pledges are $10, $15 and $20.

President Trump apparently thinks his daily press briefings on how his administration is handling the coronavirus pandemic is a reality show ... 'cause he's hyping his "ratings."

DT tweeted out the callous and insensitive message to his followers Sunday, boasting about sky-high numbers he and his task force are supposedly bringing in for news networks and other TV stations broadcasting his crucial health updates to the American people.

Trump cites the NY Times as referring to his ratings as "Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers," and says the "Lamestream Media" is going nuts about the fact he's reaching so many people. He ends his tweet with a promise to return ... "See you at 5:00 PM!"

The Prez then went on to quote the NYT writer, seemingly for context and to imply that it wasn't him, per se, that was obsessed with ratings (even though he is). The quote from Michael M. Grynbaum reads, "President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise..."

He continues by citing the numbers across different networks, adding "...alone attracted 6.2 million viewers for the president’s briefing — an astounding number for a 6 p.m. cable broadcast, more akin to the viewership for a popular prime-time sitcom..."

He then quoted Grynbaum as saying a low percentage of Republicans trusted the news media for info on the virus. Implication being ... they trust 45 more.

The fact he's giving any conversation -- be it his or others' -- about ratings oxygen whatsoever is pretty asinine -- of course, people are tuning in ... their lives are on the line.

Churches in New York are steadfast in keeping their doors closed amid the coronavirus pandemic to continue slowing the spread ... despite President Trump's plan for an Easter revival.

TMZ has spoken with 9 NYC church leaders, and all of them are standing firm in vowing to keep their places of worship empty on April 12 holy day.

Reverend Peggy Clarke of Community Church New York tells us ... she considers Trump's push for Americans to attend church together in a couple weeks "stunningly unethical," adding "Easter is a celebration of love and victory over death. The best symbol of that will be empty churches on Easter Sunday."

Rev. James Ross Smith of The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin says while he's incredibly sad about not opening his doors on Easter, he shares Rev. Peggy's sentiment. Smith says ... "It is our responsibility and duty to take care of each other, and one of the ways we do that is by listening to the health experts."

Another leader we spoke with, Pastor Patrick Thompson of New City Church, has been personally affected by the pandemic -- he tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday after experiencing symptoms of a fever about a week ago, and is in self-quarantine.

Thompson says ... "We are focusing on our new reality. Church isn't just about gathering, it's about sending people out. Even if we get a go-ahead from the federal government, we will not meet in person on Easter for safety purposes."

The pastor tells us he was distributing meals to homeless shelters and senior centers with members of his church just days before he began feeling symptoms of the coronavirus. Thing is ... they were wearing masks and gloves, so it highlights how dangerous it would be for church members to congregate too soon ... especially with NYC being the epicenter of the COVID-19 onslaught.

All of these churches -- along with Church of St. Francis Xavier, Grace Church, Trinity Church Wall Street, Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of the Incarnation and Holy Family Catholic Church -- agree that Trump's push for a public Easter celebration isn't going to affect their decision to remain closed.

They may be preaching to the choir in NYC, but in other parts of the U.S. ... the President's goal to business as usual on Easter is gaining traction.

God help us.

Seems the ice has thawed between Tom Brady and Donald Trump -- at least, according to POTUS -- who says he spoke with TB12 the other day and they're all gooooood!

Trump busted out the humblebrag during a coronavirus update press conference Thursday while trashing the "fake news" media.

"Somebody in the fake news said that one of the governors said 'Oh we need Tom Brady' [to lead the coronavirus relief effort]."

"They think Tom Brady should be leading the effort. That's only fake news and I like Tom Brady. Spoke to him the other day. He's a great guy."

Of course, Tom and Trump had a friendship that went back years -- Tom even put DT's "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker during his first campaign.

But, the two had a big falling out back in 2017 -- Tom didn't go to the White House with the team that year and Trump made no mention of TB12 during his congratulatory remarks.

As we previously reported, Trump felt betrayed by Brady for not standing up for him publicly. In fact, Gisele publicly stated she and Tom didn't support him anymore.

Tom has also disagreed with Trump's criticism of Colin Kaepernick -- saying the comments POTUS has made about NFL kneelers is "just divisive."

But now it seems they're on better terms.

President Trump said it'd be a good idea for hotels to start closing their doors -- including his own -- but the fact is ... Trump Hotels in America are by and large open for business.

45 was asked about how the shutdowns and closures sweeping the nation's businesses might be affecting his own -- the guy lends his name to several different hotels and restaurants globally -- and he said he was getting hurt like everyone else.

It almost seemed like he wasn't sure -- but took some big guesses, eventually deferring to his sons, who are in charge of the Trump empire while DT's in office.

Still, Trump took a hard stance, telling the press Sunday he actually thought it would be a good idea if his hotels closed to deter people from congregating and cut down on the virus potentially spreading. TMZ called around ... and it doesn't sound like that memo's gotten to his own staff quite yet. Fact is ... some U.S.-based Trump Hotels are still taking bookings.

Of the stateside Trump Hotels where folks can rent a room for Sunday night -- according to the front desk clerks:

-- Trump International Hotel Chicago ... Open for business

-- Trump International Hotel Waikiki -- Open for business

-- Trump Int'l D.C. -- Open

-- Trump Int'l Hotel and Tower Vancouver -- Open

-- Trump National Doral Miami -- Open

Trump hotels in Nevada and New York -- Closed

As for international properties, the hotel in Turnberry, Scotland is open. The hotel in Ireland is not.

President Trump's considering giving Americans up to $1,000 to help people suddenly out of work due to the coronavirus, and his main man on economics has a tip on where to spend it.

We got Larry Kudlow Tuesday on Capitol Hill shortly after the announcement of those checks -- part of a proposed trillion dollar relief package -- could be in the mail within a couple of weeks. Kudlow is the Director of the Nat'l Economic Council, so he's the guy to ask about how best to stretch that check ... if you get it.

First, LK says you definitely should NOT blow the dough on stupid ventures. For instance, even if ya got time on your hands at home during quarantine, online gambling -- even on the weather -- ain't the wise move, according to Larry.

He says your best move is putting it back into the economy -- spending, not saving, it on essential household items, supplies, food and, of course ... your rent or mortgage.

However, he's not opposed to getting yourself something pretty -- on Wall Street, that is. Larry says the best way to make the cash pay off in the long run is to take advantage of deep discount stock prices.

President Trump says the United States is suspending all travel to and from Europe for a lengthy period of time ... as the government ratchets ups its response to the deadly pandemic.

Trump says there will be a 30-day travel ban between Europe and the U.S.A starting Friday at midnight ET due to the coronavirus... but he says the United Kingdom will be exempt from the ban.

Other exemptions, Trump says, will be made for Americans who have been screened for the virus.