The Mark Thompson Show

Today, the Trump administration is facing a noon deadline to let a federal judge know what it plans to do to comply with a court order requiring the Agriculture Department to disperse SNAP payments to the nation’s poor. The benefit payments dried up November 1st because of the government shutdown. The legal cases over Trump’s refusal to use contingency funds to make SNAP payments are mounting. Last week, Democratic leaders from 25 states joined to file a lawsuit against the Agriculture Department. CBS iHeart Television & Radio Political Analyst Gary Dietrich will swing by to discuss this and more.  Michael Hiltzik will stop through to talk politics and crypto. Karen Dawn will bring her love of animals to the show. The Mark Thompson Show 11/3/25Patreon 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

Our favorite Britisher, Anthony Davis, will stop by to talk politics. Will ask him about the man formally known as Prince Andrew being stripped of his title and his house. “This Week in Politics” brings Mo ‘Kelly by the show to talk about the shutdown, the takeovers and word that ICE is keeping people they’ve detained in secret rooms. We’ll take a virtual trip to Florida and check out entertainment options for the Halloween weekend ahead.

The United States hasn’t tested nuclear weapons since 1992, but President Trump may be changing that. He is ordering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his “Department of War” to “immediately” start testing nuclear weapons "on an equal basis" with other nations. He is specifically trying to compete with Russia and China, but it has also been decades since those countries tested nuclear weapons. It’s unclear if that means America will wait for any nuclear action before launching tests or not. Trump announced the move on Truth Social ahead of his meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in what may have been an attempt to appear powerful. Court decisions on the matter of Trump sending National Guard troops into Portland and Chicago are pending. We will check in with former federal prosecutor and now defense attorney David Katz to get his thoughts.

With the constitutionality of Trump imposing tariffs without the backing of Congress headed to the Supreme Court, legislators finally seem to be taking the matter back into their own hands. Five Senate Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the president’s use of emergency powers to impose 50% tariffs on Brazil. Republican Senators Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in giving Senate approval but the House will not consider the matter until early next year.We’ll talk about it with our political analyst and presidential historian John Rothmann.Dr. Jennifer Conrad stops by to talk about the challenges she faced working to ban cat declawing in California.It’s been a pretty big week for the environment. The world missed a major greenhouse gas emission target. Our Eco-journalist, Belinda Waymouth, will explain.The Mark Thompson Show 10/29/25Patreon 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

With the government shutdown in its fourth week and the fight over extending Affordable Care Act subsidies nowhere near over, the federal workers union is now calling for Democrats to abandon the effort. The American Federation of Government Employees wants Congress to pass a “clean” stopgap funding bill now so their workers can get paid, but others in favor of health care subsidies say holding out a little longer is key. That’s because next week,  Republicans may also feel pressure as Americans insured via the Affordable Care Act will see wildly higher costs.We’ll talk about it with Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston.AI expert and entrepreneur Rahul Powar will stop through to talk about the benefits and the risks of artificial intelligence.Emergency physician, Dr. Michael Daignault, considers Trump’s recent admission that he needed both an MRI and a cognitive test. Plus, it’s vaccine season and our Dr. Daignault has some great information. The Mark Thompson Show 10/28/25Patreon 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

The Mark Thompson Show 10/27/25Patreon 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 is losing his mind over an advertisement featuring the real voice of Ronald Reagan, not AI, that obliterates Trump’s tariff policy. Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, is among those behind the ad. He says “We’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country.”  It’s a one minute video with excerpts from a radio address by Reagan warning of the long-term economic issues brought on by tariffs on foreign imports sold to Americans. Trump seems to understand that it makes him look incredibly foolish and he’s lashing out bigly, blasting Canada in a social media tirade:“They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”We’ll talk about it with Mo Kelly on This Week in Politics. Albert put together quite the Friday Fabulous Florida offerings and “The Culture Blaster” Michael Snyder will set us straight on good entertainment for the weekend ahead. The Mark Thompson Show 10/24/25Patreon 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

Is America headed for war with Venezuela? On The Mark Thompson Show, we've been following the strikes against what the Trump Administration claims are "narco-boats" carrying drugs to the US and other countries. Though no proof has been offered in support of that, America continues to blast small boats off the coast of Venezuela to smithereens. So far, the US has blown up at least seven such boats, killing dozens of people. Trump is declaring an “armed conflict” with drug trafficking groups he has deemed international terrorists. He is also positioning dozens of warships, planes and thousands of U.S. troops in the Caribbean Sea. He admitted authorizing CIA covert operations in Venezuela. In addition, Trump is escalating tensions with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying he was illegitimately elected and is leading a narcotics cartel. Trump says he is ready to go further than blowing up boats: “we’re going to stop them by land." All of this is raising concerns that the US could be marching toward war with Venezuela. With Trump poised to send National Guard troops into Portland and Chicago and threatening to do so in San Francisco, we will look at the court decisions preventing him from making such moves, for now. Former federal prosecutor and now defense attorney David Katz will explain. Nathan Taylor from Election Truth Alliance will stop in to update us on his work to shine a light on data he claims indicates possible trouble with the results of the 2024 election of President Trump.

230-Million dollars.  That's how much Trump wants to be compensated from the Department of Justice for criminally investigating him.  Trump says he's owed damages for the alleged Russian interference investigation in the 2016 Presidential election and for the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago home related to the handling of classified documents. Trump says whatever money he gets he'll give to charity (Ballroom fund perhaps?)  Whatever number he wants, he will probably get because Trump and those in his administration trying to stay in his good graces will be responsible for approving a payout.John Rothmann, our presidential historian and political analyst is traveling but may be able to join us depending on his Internet coverage.  Get ready to save the world because "It's the Planet, Stupid!" with Belinda Waymouth is on the way.  The Mark Thompson Show 10/22/25Patreon 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

More lies from the Trump White House.  Trump said work to add an opulent 90-thousand square foot ballroom would not interfere with the historic East Wing, but video evidence shows backhoes tearing a chunk of the building apart to make way for the entrance to the ballroom.  Initially, Trump said...     “It won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be. It’ll be near it but not      touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the      biggest fan of“..."It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it."A US appeals court could reconsider the ruling allowing Trump to move forward with Portland National Guard troop deployment.  The panel lifted the hold on the deployment yesterday but now a judge is requesting a vote on whether the case should be reheard.We'll ask the brilliant David Cay Johnston about all if it.  The Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist joins in the second hour. The Mark Thompson Show 10/21/25Patreon 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