The Mark Thompson Show

Heads are spinning at the White House after President Trump seemed to flip flop on funding for Medicaid. That’s health care for the poorest Americans. Hours after holding an interview alongside Elon Musk where he said he would not touch Medicaid, Trump threw support behind a House GOP budget plan that will likely lead to billions in cuts to Medicaid. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel says Trump cannot end birthright citizenship. The case could go to the Supreme Court in a matter of days. We’ll ask former federal prosecutor and now defense attorney, David Katz, what he thinks the Supreme Court will say on the matter.

We are marking the moment we hit 100,000 subscribers here on The Mark Thompson Show and we couldn’t have done it without you. From KGO & KFI to now, thank you for your support. Now, let’s discuss why Trump is blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion and why Musk is wrong about Social Sscurity. We’ll chat with Mo Kelly from KFI. Presidential historian John Rothmann joins and we’re pretty sure he has a lot to say about Trump’s second go at the oval. “It’s the Planet, Stupid!” brings our favorite eco-journalist, Belinda Waymouth to the show.

In what may be the kiss-up of all kiss-ups, a Republican lawmaker is trying to make Trump’s birthday a national holiday. It’s on June 14th, already designated as Flag Day in the U.S. so Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, of New York,  introduced “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act.”  It would “permanently codify” June 14th as a federal holiday called “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day.” Pulizer Prize winning author and investigative reporter David Cay Johnston will stop by to talk politics. We’ll check in with Dr. Michael Daignault about escalating cases of the flu and measles. The Mark Thompson Show 2/18/25Patreon 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

Donald Trump wants NASCAR to be the “fuel of America’s Golden Age.” Speaking ahead of the Daytona 500, he hyped up the roar of the engines and the Star Spangled Banner. Meanwhile, fallout from the latest Trump/Musk blunder is serious. The DOGE cutters fired the newer federal workers managing America’s nuclear weapons and are now frantically trying to get them back. Bill Martin, a beloved weatherman in the Bay Area is retiring from his longtime KTVU post. He was once Mark Thompson’s intern. We’ll see if he has any juicy stories to tell as we celebrate his wonderful career. The Mark Thompson Show 2/17/25Patreon 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 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s judgement is already in question after he extended an invitation to the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist. Hegseth included far-right influencer Jack Posobiec - offering him a media invitaton on his first official trip to Europe this week. Posobiec might not be able to roll with Hegseth as his online posts indicate that he is already in Ukraine with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Clearly, Posobiec is in demand by Trump administration officials despite pushing the Pizzagate lie and whipping up such a furor that an armed man went looking for the non-existent pizza parlor basement where Democrats were alleged to have been doing horrible things and fired a shot in the restaurant. No injuries. We welcome our favorite hockey fan, journalist Michael Shure to the show to discuss that and so much more. We are off to explore Friday Fabulous Florida where Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has a special Valentines messsge for us. The Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder, brings us all the best entertainment offerings this week, from the theaters to streaming options.

Looks like Elon Musk is quickly recouping money he paid for the predidency via fat new government contracts. Over the last couple months, he’s been awarded SpaceX contracts and now Marco Rubio over at the State Department says he expects to spend $400 million on 'armored' Cybertrucks made by special government employee Elon Musk's Tesla. Can someone alert the waste, fraud and abuse team? A judge says the government employee buyout offer can move forward, we will check in with former federal prosecutor, now defense attorney, David Katz. The Mark Thompson Show 2/13/25

He hasn’t been confirmed as the Director of the FBI yet, but it seems Kash Patel has taken it upon himself to kick certain FBI leaders out of their jobs. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he has "highly credible information" that Patel orchestrated the firings at the FBI and lied during confirmation hearing testimony by denying any knowledge of the purge. Will it keep him from being confirmed? We welcome Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston to discuss this and much more. Presidential historian and political analyst John Rothmann will swing by to talk politics. Eco-journalist Belinda Waymouth will bring us details on Trump’s love for plastic straws and a directive for NOAA scientists not to talk to scientists from other countries. Join us for “It’s the Planet, Stupid!”

With seeming disregard for the constitutional power of Congress and Trump administration leaders questioning of the validity of judges ruling on cases related to an unprecedented grab of presidential power, constitutional experts are warning of a crisis. On CNN, New York University law professor Ryan Goodman laid out a “doomsday scenario” when asked what would happen if Trump decides he doesn’t want to accept a court ruling. We welcome TYT’s Jayar Jackson to the show. His work creating videos that expose corruption and his curation of political content make him an important part of the fight against tyranny. It’s Tech Tuesday so former USA today tech colomnist Jefferson Graham will stop by the show. The Mark Thompson Show 2/11/25Patreon 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

First, Elon Musk commandeered America’s money without the consent of Congress. Now, Musk and JD Vance are questioning the authority of the judicial branch of government to serve as a check on executive power. They are pushing back against a federal judge's decision blocking Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records. In doing so, top Trump administration officials are questioning the legitimacy of judicial oversight. Musk called for the impeachment of the judge and has reposted a message saying the Trump administration should just defy the court order.We’ll talk politics with iHeart television and radio political analyst Gary Dietrich. The Mark Thompson Show 2/10/25Patreon 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

Federal workers are getting bullied into resigning. According to Politico, Trump administration officials are sending multiple messages trying to convince staff to take a deferred resignation deal. Many federal workers aren’t sure that deal is legal or will even be honored. For now, threats of layoffs, cutting entire office locations and being replaced with AI are keeping the pressure on federal workers. We will check in with Josh Mankiewicz from Dateline NBC. When Mark & Josh get together, the conversation can go anywhere from politics to murder. Political journalist Michael Shure will join us to look at the wild week in Washington DC. Friday Fabulous Florida brings a lighthearted look at the weird that is uniquely Florida. We’ll cruise into the weekend with the Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder. He’ll bring us the latest on movies, streaming options and more.