The Mark Thompson Show

Donald Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. are about to rake in large sums of money by taking their American Bitcoin mining firm public on the Nasdaq exchange. The company is merging with Gryphon Digital Mining in an all-stock merger. As the Trump administration announces the framework of a tariff deal with China, Chinese President Xi Xinping appears to be sidestepping Trump and looking to smooth trade relations with South American countries while denouncing bullying and isolationism. We welcome Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist and author David Cay Johnston to the show to discuss it all.Jefferson Graham returns for Tech Tuesday. He’ll take a look at Apple’s fall pricing and whether tariffs are expected to have an effect.The Mark Thompson Show 5/13/25Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you’re more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com

It would be one of the most valuable gifts ever received by the United States of America; a Boeing 747-8. The commercial model sells for $400 million, but the price could go way up if they trick it out for top-notch luxury, extra security and all the bells and whistles you would expect on Air Force One.  If Trump accepts that gift, as he indicates he will, does that mean the United States is beholden to Qatar? Trump advisor Steven Miller says the Trump administration is looking for ways to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. That means you could be arrested and no one has to tell you why, and no one has to make sure that you appear before a judge theoretically, authorities could do anything with you and take you anywhere and your family would never know where you ended up. Are we looking at the end of the Constitutional privileges we all enjoy? We’ll explore.IHeart television and radio political analyst Gary Dietrich will join the conversation. The Mark Thompson Show 5/12/25Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you’re more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com

Trump keeps tapping his favorite Fox talent pool to help fill government jobs. This time, Judge Jeanine Pirro will be stepping in to head the largest U.S. Attorney’s office in the country. Trump wants Pirro to be the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. but there’s no word on whether that comes with the possibility of permanence. We have a great guest lineup on today’s Mark Thompson Show, including author Sarah Kendzior. In addition to her many books, including: They Knew, Hiding in Plain Sight, The View From Flyover Country and Thd Last American Roadtrip, Sarah Kendzior cohosted the podcast “Gaslit Nation” covering corruption in the US and the rise of autocracy. We’ll talk politics with our favorite duo: journalists Michael Shure and Jim Avila. Then we press the fun button for “Friday Fabulous Florida” and The Culture Blaster Michael Snyder will slide in with plenty of pop culture love, movie reviews, and more.

The Vatican makes history with the first Pope from America! Robert Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV. We’ll have details. DOGE is working to create a centralized government database that would include pooling the personal information of millions of Americans and non citizen residents. The move violates long held privacy and security protections. Elon Musk and his DOGE crew have been amassing data from across the government. The Washington Post says the single info hub could “advance multiple Trump administration priorities, including finding and deporting undocumented immigrants and rooting out fraud in government payments.” Will there be a Covid booster available this autumn? The head of the FDA, Dr. Marty Makary, said he needs better data when asked if the FDA would be approving Covid boosters before the winter. We welcome Dr. Paul Offit, an internationally recognized expert in virology and immunology, to discuss it. Trump administration lawyers are formally invoking state secrets privileges in an effort not to turn over documents in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. We turn to our esteemed legal expert, former federal prosecutor, and now defense attorney, David Katz. Having trouble sleeping? Same. Let’s find out how to get a handle on that with Vital Signs featuring our medical expert Dr. Michael Daignault.

Finally, after all kinds of posturing about whether trade negotiations would or would not be happening, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he will start talks with China Saturday in Switzerland. On Fox, Bessent admitted China has been the missing piece as the rest of the world comes to the U.S. to make trade deals. In this case, the U.S. is going to them -meeting in Switzland because the Chinese team is traveling through Europe. Political analyst on presidential historian John Rothmann will join to talk trade and politics. “It’s the Planet, Stupid!” with Belinda Waymouth takes us to China where an EV battery revolution is underway.

Four-Star Generals and Admirals are next in line to face DOGE. Pete Hegseth reportedly wants a 20% cut to the U.S. military. That includes active duty military brass and general officers in the National Guard. He’s calling the move “Less Generals, more GIs.”The new Prime Minister of Canada will be at the White House today, working on a trade agreement with Trump. Already, some Trump allies, like Howard Lutnick, are calling Canada socialist and  casting doom on the meeting before it even starts. .We’ll run it all past our friend and Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston. There’s a new organization called Nature is Non-partisan working to bring people of different political ideologies together in support of shared environmental ideals. From hunters to tree huggers, the goal is to protect the planet. We have Meg Haywood Sullivan stopping by to give us details. The Mark Thompson Show 5/6/25Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you’re more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com

What is now a San Francisco tourist hotspot was once a notorious prison for hardened criminals. Trump wants to turn back the clock and make Alcatraz into the isolated prison for the worst offenders that it once was. If that leaves, you scratching your head, some other things he said over the weekend will too. The president questioned whether he has to follow the constitution. He told the press he would not rule out taking Greenland by force and he says there will be a 100% tariff for foreign films in America.We will talk politics with author Jared Yates Sexton and iHeart TV and radio political analyst Gary Dietrich. Karen Dawn of Dawn Watch will join to help save the animals.The Mark Thompson Show Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you’re more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com

God, Guns & Dr. Phil. Christianity needs protecting, according to Trump, so he has created the Religious Liberty Commission. Trump is choosing Dr. Phil McGraw, who got his start on Oprah and then hosted his own daytime TV show, to sit on the holy task force. Dr. Phil says he is very proud to see religion coming back to the White House. Trump says his new Religious Liberty Commission is an effort to “vigorously enforce the historic and robust protections for religious liberty enshrined in Federal law.” Also on the RLC, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, and New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan. So far, no Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or other religions are represented. We’ve got our Friday A-team in place. Journalists Michael Shure and Jim Avila will join Mark to talk religion and politics. It’s just not Friday without a trip to Florida. Get ready for some alligators and some sunshine in this addition of Friday Fabulous Florida. Sliding in on a Friday rainbow, it’s our beloved Culture Blaster Michael Snyder bringing movie reviews, streaming options and an infusion of pop culture to the world.

The Trump team is getting inventive about playing off bad ecconomic numbers as good. It’s likely hard for Trump, who made promises to voters about his economic prowess, to admit that the US economy just had its worst quarter since 2022. Economists blame Trump’s significant policy changes for shaking up consumers and businesses. We welcome Ambassador Francis Rooney to The Mark Thompson Show. He served in Congress representing Florida’s 19th Congressional District and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, under President George W. Bush. We’ll ask Ambassador Rooney what Trump’s American foreign policy should look like. Former federal prosecutor and now defense attorney, David Katz joins us. He will discuss the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on whether religious schools can be funded with taxpayer dollars.

Despite Trump vowing to cut government spending, hiring Elon Musk and taking chainsaw to federal agencies, your taxpayer dollars are flying out the door faster than ever. Trump's administration has spent about $220 billion more in his first 100 days compared to the same time period last year. According to a CBS analysis, Trump’s government is now spending more, day to day, than was spent in nine of the last 10 years. We will look at the details with presidential historian and political analyst John Rothmann.Eco-journalist Belinda Waymouth returns with another attempt to save the world. Join us for, “It’s the Planet, Stupid!”The Mark Thompson Show 4/30/25Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you’d like to help, here’s our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you’re more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you’ll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.com