DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • The Trump administration has signaled to Republican congressional leaders that it plans to drop its taxpayer-funded $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” slush fund, though it was unclear how firm or permanent that plan is. • After publicly claiming not to care about the Middle East, Trump reportedly flew off the handle at Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for Israel’s invasion and genocide in Lebanon. “You’re f---ing crazy,” Trump reportedly told Bibi. “You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your a--. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Zionists are demanding the head of the leaker. • Hezbollah’s widespread use of explosive “first-person-view” drones, which are controlled with fiber-optic cables that unspool for miles and are unsusceptible to electronic jamming, have shocked the IDF in Lebanon. • GOP Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey is running unopposed in his primary today, seeking a third term in one of the nation’s most competitive seats. But he’s MIA. Voters haven’t seen or heard directly from Kean in months — and it’s still unclear when he might return to work on Capitol Hill. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Graham Platner, whose contest in Maine is a key to Democrats’ hopes of winning the US Senate, sought to discredit reports that he had exchanged sexual messages with women outside his marriage. Can his candidacy survive?• Four detainees at the largest ICE detention gulag in the U.S. filed a federal lawsuit alleging human rights abuses, "horrific" conditions and "severe medical neglect" at the facility. "Detained people are regularly subjected to severe beatings or sexual harassment by guards; squalid living conditions; spoiled and inadequate food; no meaningful programming or recreation; inadequate access to basic hygiene products such as soap, razors or nail clippers, outbreaks of disease; and limited or no access to sunlight," according to the complaint.• Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark NJ, has imposed a curfew on the area surrounding Delaney Hall, the ICE detention gulag that has become a flashpoint in the debate over Trump’s mass deportation drive. The announcement comes amid a flare-up in tensions outside the centre, which is run by the private contractor GEO Group.• In a surprisingly strong performance, right-wing outsider candidate Abelardo de la Espriella will face leftist candidate senator Iván Cepeda in a June runoff election to decide Colombia’s presidency, setting the stage for a battle over the country’s political future. De la Espriella won the most ballots with 43.74% of the vote, with Cepeda getting 40.90%, both falling short of the absolute majority required to win outright.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump officials have pressed the office responsible for printing the nation’s money to design a $250 bill featuring Trump’s portrait, in what would be the first appearance of a living person on U.S. currency in more than 150 years.• A former senior CIA official is accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40 million and stashing them in his home. From November to March, David Rush requested and received a "significant quantity of foreign currency and tens of millions of dollars in gold bars for work-related expenses," according to the FBI.• A Kenyan court has suspended US plans to open an Ebola quarantine facility for American citizens. The 50-bed isolation centre is to be staffed by US medics and was due to begin operations today. In its court petition, rights group the Katiba Institute warned that the arrangement posed "grave and imminent risks" to public health. Now Trump wants to send Ebola patients to Europe.• Under the US-brokered ceasefire in October, the Israeli army withdrew to a demarcation line which gave Israel direct control of 53% of Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu says he has given orders to the IDF to seize control of 70%, imperiling the deal.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• The Trump administration threatens to stop immigration processing for incoming international flights at major US cities with so-called sanctuary laws, which ban or limit local police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, to punish protests against ICE. It’s the start of summer tourist season.• The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old former magazine writer who accused Trump of sexual assault. The investigation centers on whether she committed perjury when she won a $5 million civil judgment that Trump had sexually abused and defamed her, and a $83.3 million civil judgment against him in another defamation case.,• Middle East War: Trump warns that Oman, a US ally, “will behave just like everybody else, or we will have to blow them up.” Resignation is setting in across Lebanon that a meaningful end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah is not coming anytime soon. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it has targeted an American air base in the region, after fresh US strikes on southern Iran, and oil prices are up.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss:• The Trump administration plans to exile American citizens exposed to Ebola to Kenya rather than bring them home to the US for observation and treatment. In previous outbreaks, health care workers and other US citizens were brought home to be treated at specialized medical units. • As we predicted yesterday, Texas Republican primary voters elected Attorney General Ken Paxton over 5-term incumbent Senator John Cornyn by a 64%-36% landslide. The GOP could find itself diverting millions of dollars to defend Paxton against Democrat James Talarico.• But it’s not all good news for Trump. Defying pressure from Trump and national conservatives to wade into the country’s redistricting wars, the South Carolina Senate adjourned without taking up a new congressional map that aimed to eliminate the state’s lone majority Black district and cement an entirely Republican delegation.• The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released its rendering of the very classy, highly dignified octagonal cage at the White House for a fight scheduled on Trump’s 80th birthday and also America’s, which is 170 years older than Trump. It depicts a star-spangled arch over the cage on the White House South Lawn. Trump is also planning a highly dignified, very classy IndyCar street circuit racing past landmarks including the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol in August.JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLEhttps://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowFOLLOW TED:https://rall.com/https://x.com/tedrallLISTEN ON SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuLISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss: • Donald Trump skipped his son’s wedding to spend a wild weekend in Washington, where he announced that permanent peace was at hand as well as the release of $24 billion belonging to Iran, then a temporary memo of understanding meant to last 30 days, then a concept that needed to be ironed out, and finally wound up bombing Iranian boats and missile launchers in “self-defense.” Complicating peace talks, Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords with Israel. • After security minister Ben Gvir released a video of him abusing them, Gaza flotilla activists kidnapped by Israel in international waters said that IDF soldiers tortured them with tasers and rubber bullets and broken their bones. Activists also accused Israel of systemic sexual violence, including “multiple accounts of rape,” and “forcible penetration by a handgun.” • A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego García, an immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Meanwhile, Columbia grad Mahmoud Khalil appeals to SCOTUS. • Skanky Attorney General Ken Paxton, endorsed by Trump, is heavily favored to defeat 5-term Senator John Cornyn in Texas. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss: • Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America” during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Trump with sufficient “negative firepower,” according to a post-election autopsy finally released by the Democratic National Committee. Chairman Ken Martin’s handling of the document and the direction of the party’s political machine has angered Democrats. Gaza doesn’t rate a mention. Will there be major reforms at the DNC? • Iran and Oman are in talks over a Strait of Hormuz Ship Payment System. The discussions suggest that the US and the Iran may not be close to reaching a deal to end a war that has badly damaged the global economy. • House Republicans abruptly canceled a vote on a War Powers resolution directing Trump to withdraw US forces from Iran or win approval to continue the war, after it became clear they lacked the votes to defeat the measure. It’s a striking setback that exposes fractures within the GOP over the conflict at a moment when the party has begun pushing back forcefully on Trump and his agenda. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.Today we discuss:• President Donald Trump’s settlement with the IRS was updated to include a provision that stops the government from prosecuting him and his family and end audits, a way to get around restrictions on him pardoning himself. Meanwhile, Trump’s U.S. prosecutors charges former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder and conspiracy.• Israel’s security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waved an Israeli flag and taunted rows of detained international activists — participants in an aid flotilla meant to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza — were brutalized by IDF thugs on an Israeli-government video posted to social media. The peaceful protesters were arrayed face down, hands zip-tied, as the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, played loudly. The violent incident, filmed at Israel’s Port of Ashdod, drew international condemnation.• House Democrats are one step closer to finally getting a successful Iran War Powers Act vote as their last holdout plans to flip and at least one Republican says they may follow suit.JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLEhttps://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowFOLLOW TED:https://rall.com/https://x.com/tedrallLISTEN ON SPOTIFY:LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY:

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump flexed his strength in primary elections, continuing the process of eliminating political enemies within the GOP. At the same time, his low ratings and the war have raised red flags among base voters who supported his “America First” agenda. The biggest win for the White House is defeating Rep. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who opposed Trump on key issues, including on the “big, beautiful bill” and on pushing for the release of files related to Epstein. Massie lost to Ed Gallrein, who got 54%.• Senate Majority Leader John Thune — and most of the GOP conference — is reeling from Trump's snap endorsement of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in the Texas GOP Senate runoff on May 26th.• Trump sounds increasingly unhinged: “I thought the market would go down 25 percent, and I was OK with that to get rid of a nuclear potential holocaust. Would have been a nuclear holocaust. So, going down 25 percent’s OK when you get rid of a nuclear holocaust, so, uh, most people agree with me…Everyone tells me [the war] is unpopular, but I think it’s very popular. When they hear that it’s having to do with nuclear weapons, weapons that could take out Los Angeles, could take out major cities, very quick, when they hear that—I tell you what, when we explain it to people, I don’t really have enough time to explain to people. I’m too busy getting it done,” Trump said. “I think it’s frankly very popular, but whether it’s popular or not popular, I have to do it, because I’m not going to let the world be blown up on my watch. Not gonna happen.”MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • Two teenage attackers fatally shot three men at a mosque in San Diego, California, in a suspected hate crime, before taking their own lives. Police were already on the hunt for the two when the attack at the Islamic Center of San Diego began, and they found three victims with gunshot wounds outside the front of the building. Officers found the suspects - aged 17 and 18 - dead of self-inflicted wounds in a vehicle blocks away from the mosque. • Iran has made a new proposal for a deal to end the war, with Donald Trump claiming he had postponed new military strikes so talks could continue. But there has been no sign of a breakthrough in the stalled negotiations. • Brian Morrissey, the top lawyer at the Treasury Department, quit in the wake of the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that could soon make payments to Trump’s political allies. • Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to host his “old friend” Vladimir Putin less than a week after Donald Trump's ​high-profile visit, as Beijing seeks to project itself as a stable and predictable power in a world shaken by trade tensions, wars and an energy crisis. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss: • A crowd of thousands transformed a block of the National Mall into an evangelical-style worship service Sunday at an event backed by Trump and funded with millions of taxpayer dollars. In an eight-hour lineup, speakers including top government officials framed America as a country founded to be explicitly Christian — and in danger if its population turns from their version of that religious faith. Sitting, standing, dancing and praising with hands raised toward a blazing sun, attendees appeared riveted as speakers took the stage during “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving.” Many said they were thrilled to see an event that tied the nation and its government so overtly to Christianity. • The Trump administration is considering the establishment of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate the president’s allies and others investigated by the Justice Department under Biden. The unusual plan, which Democrats and former government officials criticized as a vast political slush fund financed by taxpayers, is being fast-tracked. The fund would also address Trump’s separate pair of administrative claims against the Justice Department for its investigations into him. Trump has asked for $230 million for those claims. • Iran is threatening to impose fees on undersea Internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reports, raising concerns that Iran could target a critical “digital corridor” for global finance, cloud services and communications as talks with Washington remain stalled. • The Long Island Railroad commuter rail system is on strike. The main sticking point is a pay raise. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Crisis in Cuba: Cuba’s oil reserves have run dry, which will plunge the country into even more frequent, bigger and longer nationwide blackouts. Venezuelan fuel stopped flowing in January, after the US kidnapped Venezuela’s president and stole Venezuela’s oil industry. Later, Trump imposed a blockade barring oil from reaching Cuba, which had also received shipments from Mexico.• The US is moving to indict former Cuban president Raúl Castro. The charges are related to the Cuban government shooting down two planes operated by a right-wing group in 1996.• CIA Director John Ratcliffe leads a delegation to Havana to deliver a message from Trump to Cuban officials and Raúl "Raulito" Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the elder Castro's grandson. Last week, the U.S. State Department ⁠said it had privately offered the $100 million in aid to Cuba, in addition to "free ​and fast satellite internet" on the condition that it agree to “meaningful reforms.”• The Justice Department accuses Yale School of Medicine of discriminating based on race, by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants over White and Asian ones. The DOJ looked at median grade-point averages and standardized test scores broken down by race, and concluded that “Yale’s use of race resulted in a Black applicant being as much as 29 times higher odds of getting an interview for admission than an equally strong Asian applicant with similar academic credentials.” The investigation did not address other factors, such as essays, transcripts, letters of recommendation and interviews. The median entrance exam score for admitted Black students last year was 518 and for 517 for Hispanic students. The median score was 524 for both White and Asian students. The highest possible score is 528. The median grade point average for Black students was 3.88 and 3.91 for Hispanic students. For White students, it was 3.97 and for Asians 3.98.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: <a target="_blank" re

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Backed by $5.6 million in outside money, Corporatist Denise Powell has narrowly defeated progressive State Sen. John Cavanaugh to win the Democratic primary in the race for Nebraska's second congressional district. Powell will go on to face Brinker Harding who is endorsed by Trump. The race for the state's second congressional district could help decide which party controls the narrowly divided U.S. House after this year's midterm elections. The district, which includes Omaha, is known as the "blue dot" because it was the lone Nebraska district to vote for Kamala in 2024 and Biden in 2020. It is currently represented by Republican Don Bacon, who is retiring.• The South Carolina Supreme Court has unanimously ruled to overturn the 2023 double murder conviction of disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, saying the jury tampering actions of former Colleton County Court Clerk Rebecca “Becky” Hill denied “Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.” Murdaugh’s case will now return to circuit court. He is accused of killing his wife, Maggie, and younger son Paul at the Murdaugh rural estate in Colleton County on the evening of June 7, 2021.• JPMorgan warns that oil prices may hit $150 per barrel by June 15th, the time available to reach a diplomatic resolution is narrowing, and the economic consequences of delay are compounding in ways that are not yet fully visible in either securities markets or inflation data. Global supply disruptions reached 13.7 million barrels per day in April 2026, roughly 14% of total world demand. Spare capacity from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is effectively offline due to the Strait of Hormuz closure. 75 percent of Americans say the war has had a negative effect on their finances.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: h

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump says that he is not weighing the economic burden of the Iran war on everyday Americans. Asked to what extent “Americans’ financial situations” were motivating him to make a deal with Iran, he replied: “Not even a little bit,” Trump said. “The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”• Secret new assessments say Iran has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting that its military remains far stronger than President Trump has asserted. Iran still fields about 70 percent of its mobile launchers across the country and has retained roughly 70 percent of its prewar missile stockpile. • Dozens of Gulf citizens have been accused of belonging to Iran-linked terrorism cells as the war accelerates a shift toward deeper authoritarianism in the region. Shiite religious leaders in Pakistan also estimate that as many as thousands of Shiite Pakistanis have been deported from the Emirates since mid-April.• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition may collapse next week, after one of his key ultra-Orthodox coalition partners called for the parliament to be dissolved. The political crisis comes after Netanyahu told ultra-Orthodox political leaders that he would not advance legislation to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis from military service.• More than 10,000 times, judges have said ICE detentions, typically carried out with no opportunity for detainees to plead their case, are illegal. That’s roughly 90 percent of all cases — a staggering rejection of a core piece of Trump’s immigration agenda. Presidents’ signature initiatives often end up in court. But this flood of adverse rulings is unique — a never-before-seen reaction to a never-before-seen policy.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFl

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Since Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down state Democrats’ new congressional map and SCOTUS narrowed the Voting Rights Act, Democrats are arguing that Republicans’ aggressive moves to dismantle Black- and Hispanic-majority districts in the South will outrage voters of color and spur them to the polls in record numbers.• The former mayor of Arcadia was expected to plead guilty after being charged with acting as an illegal agent of China. Eileen Wang, who was elected to the Arcadia City Council in 2022, as well as Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills, allegedly worked at the direction of China and operated "U.S. News Center," a news source for the local Chinese American community between late 2020 and through 2022.• Israeli legislators have approved a bill to establish a special tribunal with the power to impose the death penalty on Palestinians accused of involvement in the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023. The bill explicitly permits mass trials that deviate from standard rules of evidence, including broad judicial discretion to admit evidence obtained under torture.• Kuwait accused Iran of sending an armed paramilitary Revolutionary Guard team to launch a failed attack earlier this month on an island in the Middle East nation home to a China-funded port project. The accusation came as the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said that Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the UAE.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Writing in The New York Times, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) argues that the Left is picking on Israel but gets a free pass: “The Democratic condemnation piled on Israel’s government is overwhelming in comparison to other allies. It’s also louder than Democrats’ condemnation of Iran’s regime for the slaughter of thousands of Iranians in December and January. Israel has been decried by some leading Democrats as an ‘apartheid’ state. But I haven’t heard any of them claim apartheid when it comes to how women and LGBTQ people are treated across the Middle East.”• A report, from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based advocacy group, concludes that Israel employs “systematic sexual violence” in jails and prisons that is “widely practiced as part of an organized state policy.”• Netanyahu says he wants Israel to wean itself off the $3.8 billion it gets from the US each year over the next decade. • Six people are found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in Laredo, home to one of Texas’ largest hubs for trade with Mexico, accounting for roughly 62% of the state’s land port trade, or $340 billion.

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Tennessee Republicans propose a new congressional map that includes a district stretching nearly 300 miles from Memphis to the Nashville suburbs. The 9th Congressional District, which historically covers Memphis, would be redrawn to stretch from the bottom of Shelby County to the edge of Nashville. This move is designed to split Shelby County into three districts and split Nashville to maximize Republican representation. The new districts cover a massive geographic area, spanning from the state's poorest ZIP codes in Memphis to the wealthiest in Brentwood and Franklin, totaling a distance of nearly 300 miles. The proposal follows a special session called by Gov. Bill Lee aimed at redrawing the map following a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act, allowing for the elimination of a district that is 61% Black. Tennessee, which is 1/3 Democratic, would have zero Democratic Congressmen.• Voters across Scotland and Wales will elect members of their national parliaments, while residents in many parts of England will choose members of local councils. In place of Labour and its traditional opponent, the Conservatives, many voters are embracing other parties in what experts say represents the largest transformation in British politics in a generation. The two biggest beneficiaries are Reform U.K., the right-wing populist party led by Nigel Farage, a supporter of President Trump, and — on the other side of the political spectrum — the leftist, pro-environment Green Party. Polls suggest that the Conservative Party, known as the Tories, will continue to lose seats after cratering in local and national elections over the past two years. In some parts of Britain, the party once led by the “Iron Lady” of British politics, Margaret Thatcher, could come in fourth or fifth, with support in the single digits.• You might not have asked for an AI model on your computer, but you might have gotten it anyway. Google Chrome has been installing a 4GB model onto devices without asking or notifying users. Google has been installing Gemini Nano -- an AI model that runs on devices like smartphones and laptops instead of in the cloud -- onto some people's Chrome browsers, without their permission, according to Alexander Hanff, a Swedish computer scientist and lawyer known as That Privacy Guy. And Google doesn't tell you that it's on your device after it's installed. Hanff said Gemini Nano will only be installed if the person's device meets the hardware requirements. It's unknown how many people have gotten the install.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live<a target=

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump has used up his 60-day window to attack Iran without Congressional approval under the War Powers Act, so he’s resorting to a novel argument. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Operation Epic Fury is over, and the US has begun Operation Freedom instead—which is now on hold just 48 hours in. Will the US wage its unpopular wars in 60-day increments?• Axios reports Iran and the US are close to agreement on a one-page MOU. The deal would end the current war and launch a 30-day negotiation period for a full deal. Iran would accept a 12-15 year moratorium on uranium enrichment (negotiating duration), commits to no nuclear weapons or weaponization, removes highly enriched uranium, allows enhanced/snap UN inspections, and avoids underground nuclear sites. US agrees to gradually lift sanctions and release billions in frozen funds. Both sides ease restrictions on Strait of Hormuz shipping.• Elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan showed that Trump still dominates the Republican Party, and that Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections. In Indiana, where he backed primary challenges against seven Republican state senators who rejected his redistricting plan, five of the president’s candidates won. In Michigan, a Democrat comfortably won a state Senate race in a bellwether district.• Senate Republicans proposed $1 billion to pay for new White House security measures, with lawmakers and White House officials disagreeing over whether the legislation would cover Trump’s planned ballroom.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Iran issued warnings after two U.S. destroyers, closely followed by two merchant vessels, came under attack during successful transits of the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE reported an Iranian assault on an energy hub that caused a fire. Oman’s state media reported an attack in the country but did not identify a perpetrator. Iran fired cruise missiles and drones at the U.S. naval and commercial vessels. Iran also sent six fast boats after the commercial ships, but U.S. forces fired on and destroyed the vessels. This is not what a ceasefire looks like.• A federal magistrate judge, Judge Zia Faruqui, tore into officials from the DC jail for mistreatment of the man who allegedly attempted to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Cole Allen’s placement in severe lockdown — including being fully restrained by a five-point shackling system and a temporary suicide watch that required 24-hour-a-day placement in a padded, lighted cell without access to phone calls, books, religious material or recreational time — appeared to be unfairly punitive and not based on any known medical assessment.• A car driven by Cornell’s President Michael Kotlikoff bumps into students after a confrontation over Gaza. After a debate over the war, students say the university president hit them with his vehicle. He says he was the victim.• Trump declares that the US will withdraw 5,000 – and probably many more – troops stationed in Germany, after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the US handling of the Iran conflict, saying Tehran had humiliated Washington.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump approval reaches new low, a Post-ABC-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats now hold a 5% advantage in support for Congress, up from 2% in February. Americans disapprove of him on Iran by 66% to 33%. He is down 7% on the economy, to 34%. He has fallen 5% in that time to 27% and his lowest rating comes on perceptions of his handling of the cost of living, with 23% approving vs. 76% disapproving.• Oil traders doubted the effectiveness of a plan by Trump for the US to guide neutral ships out through the Strait of Hormuz. The US move was meant to enable vessels that have been stranded by the war with Iran to pass through the waterway. A tanker reported being hit by projectiles 78 nautical miles north of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, the UK Maritime Trade Operations said. • Rudy Giuliani is in critical condition.• Spirit Airlines shuts down, stranding travelers. Republicans blame Biden.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time.Today we discuss:• A suicide note purportedly written by Jeffrey Epstein in a Manhattan jail has been kept secret for nearly seven years, locked up in a New York courthouse. A cellmate said he discovered the note in July 2019, after Epstein was found unresponsive with a strip of cloth around his neck. Epstein survived but weeks later was found dead.• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth tells Congress that Trump does not have to comply with the War Powers Act requiring presidents to seek congressional authorization to continue a war beyond 60 days because the cease-fire agreement reached with Iran has paused the clock.• Trump issued an executive order that expands access to retirement accounts for workers who don’t get 401(k)s. 54 million Americans lack access to an employer-based retirement plan.• Labor unions, Democratic organizations and community groups march to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day. May Day Strong organizers are calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies that put billionaires’ needs above those of workers.JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLEhttps://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowFOLLOW TED:https://rall.com/https://x.com/tedrallLISTEN ON SPOTIFY:LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Ted is out today; Robby West fills in. Today we discuss: • RFK Jr. is haunted by 2024 arguments about “reparenting” American children, especially Blacks, on wellness farms, which he proposed building in rural communities across the US. “Every Black kid is now just standard put on Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence,” Kennedy has said. “Those kids are going to have a chance to go somewhere and get reparented and live in a community,” he said. • Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the biggest adversary the US faces is not Iran, but the “feckless and defeatist words” of Democrats and some Republican lawmakers. He repeatedly stressed that the war was necessary because Iran posed an “existential threat” to the United States. “I know the American people support that mission, despite your loose talk and words like ‘quagmire.’” • A historic drop in representation by Black members of Congress may be on the way after the Supreme Court's landmark decision to further weaken the Voting Rights Act. JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLE https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow FOLLOW TED: https://rall.com/ https://x.com/tedrall LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu LISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Social media profiles attributed to Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Californian charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump over the weekend, are not radical. He’s centrist, moderate liberal. The same could be said of Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering the CEO of United Healthcare. Are we becoming radicalized—or are average people resorting to radicalized tactics?• FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is reconsidering the broadcasting licenses of Disney’s 8 TV stations for “early renewal” years ahead of their due dates — suggesting the action was spurred by Disney’s DEI policies. The announcement comes one day after Trump and first lady Melania demanded that Disney-owned ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about them.• The world is threatened by a “suicidal” model of capitalism that is leading to war and the potential extinction of humanity, Colombian President Gustavo Petro says, as he convened 57 governments to address the climate crisis. “There is inertia in the power and the economy of this archaic form of energy – fossil fuels – that lead to death. Undoubtedly, that form of capital can commit suicide, taking with it humanity and [other] life,” he said. “The question that needs to be asked is whether capitalism can truly adapt to a non-fossil energy model.” The former economist said the world was in a perilous position: “We are heading towards barbarism. And barbarism is the prelude to, or the very essence of, fascism.”MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Low-cost airlines are asking the Trump administration for $2.5 billion to offset some of the cost of fuel, which has surged because of the war with Iran. Spirit Airlines is negotiating a loan of up to $500 million from the government; the government would have the right to purchase ownership stakes in the airline through financial instruments known as warrants. The government could end up owning as much as 90% of the Spirit, in its second bankruptcy in two years.• A joint offensive by Tuareg separatists of the Azawad Liberation Front and JNIM militants linked to Al Qaeda represented a major setback for Mali’s military junta and its Russian paramilitary partners. Defense minister Lt. Gen. Sadio Camara, a key liaison between the Malian Army and Russian paramilitary forces, was killed in the coordinated attacks. • Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of former Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, went on trial in absentia in Switzerland in connection with alleged bribery and money laundering involving assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. She is in a “prison colony” in Uzbekistan. Swiss prosecutors say Karimova developed and ran a crime ring known as “The Office” that involved several dozen people and multiple companies. She is accused of depositing funds “of criminal origin” in Switzerland and abroad, and arranging for safe deposit boxes for the deposit of cash, jewelry and other valuables.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Cole T. Allen, 31, is accused of trying to assassinate President Trump and other officials at the White House Correspondents Dinner. A CalTech graduate and a teacher with a close-knit family, Allen allegedly issued a manifesto that indicates a highly intelligent articulate would-be assassin with specific political grievances about Trump’s genocide in Gaza, murders of Venezuelan fishermen, etc. Is America breeding a new kind of presidential assassin?• The U.K.’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the U.S. comes at a time of heightened domestic and geopolitical tension.• The centrist leader of Israel’s opposition, Yair Lapid, and a right-wing former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, will combine forces in elections later this year. The merger is an apparent bid to reconstitute a partnership that temporarily unseated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu five years ago.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Germany plans to become the strongest “conventional army in Europe” by 2039—the 100th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland that began World War II. Titled “Verantwortung für Europa,” or “Responsibility for Europe,” the military strategy identifies Russia as the primary threat and sets out scenarios for possible attacks on NATO territory. Former Axis partner Japan has also begun remilitarization.• A leaked Pentagon internal email proposes that the US should reassess its support for Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands because the UK did not do enough to help the US/Israeli war against Iran. It argues that the US could review a policy of endorsing European claims to longstanding “imperial possessions.” It also argued that Spain should be suspended from NATO for refusing to allow US war planes to be based in or fly over.• Since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump’s Justice Department charged the SPLC civil-rights group with a financial crimes, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment focused on its past use of paid informants to infiltrate far-right groups. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, accused the SPLC of “manufacturing racism to justify its existence.”• When is a Blockade not a Blockade? Lloyd’s List Intelligence says “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has passed the U.S. blockade, including 11 tankers with Iranian cargo that have left the Persian Gulf since April 13. “The dilemma for the U.S. is: The tighter the blockade, the greater the pain is in the global oil market, so there are conflicting priorities there, and it seems there is a policy of not intercepting every single shipment of Iranian oil,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, says. Almost all that oil is going to China, and the U.S. has to manage that relationship as well, with Trump planning to visit from May 14 to 15.• Navy Secretary John Phelan is fired.• For the first time in decades, the U.S. could be experiencing negative net migration — more people leaving than entering. Brookings estimates net migration turned negative in 2025, the first time in at least half a century. People born in the U.S. who move abroad make up a small portion of those numbers, but influencers on social media are helping bring wider visibility to the shift.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• So, there IS more “Mr. Nice Guy.” Trump blinked again by extending the ceasefire with Iran. His critics are mocking another TACO Tuesday. But the derision is better than risking more Iranian and US lives by doubling down to preserve his tough-guy persona. Inside Iran, though, Trump’s threats of military escalation lack credibility. The challenge for diplomats, from Pakistan and elsewhere, will be to find a way for Trump to claim some kind of win.• Leaked documents reveal details of a secret Saudi Arabia–Pakistan Mutual Defense Pact, now that Pakistan is playing a key role mediating the US-Israel-Iran War. We dig into this entanglement with journalist Murtaza Hussain, who broke this story for DropSite News. Hussain is a journalist specializing in national security and foreign policy. A former Intercept reporter now at Drop Site News, he offers commentary on U.S. interventions, human rights, and global affairs. He appears regularly on CNN, BBC, and MSNBC.• Trump asks Congress to increase the Defense budget by 42% (2/3 over Biden’s last one), to $1.5 trillion. Trump is seeking a 10% cut in discretionary domestic spending, chopping medical research, job training, home heating assistance, environmental protection and disaster relief after hurricanes. At a private Easter luncheon, Trump said: “We’re fighting wars,” he said. “It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare.” Will Trump get his way?MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Between Pete Hegseth, Kristin Noem and Kash Patel, the Trump Administration was staffed with some real party animals! Now Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out at Labor for boozing it up on the job while boning a subordinate. How did teetotaler Trump wind up with such a posse of wild right-wingers?• The US State Department will host a second round of ambassador-level talks between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday. Joining “Deprogram” to explain the latest in Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is Dmitri Lascaris. Dimitri Lascaris is a Canadian lawyer, journalist, and activist based in Montreal and Kalamata, Greece. A former Wall Street and class-action securities litigator, he now reports independently on foreign affairs, human rights, and global politics via his YouTube channel Reason2Resist, often from conflict zones, including Lebanon. • Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Iran is “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” after Trump threatened Iran with “problems like they’ve never seen before” if the two-week ceasefire expires tomorrow without a deal. There is no official confirmation on whether Iran will take part in talks in Islamabad.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time. MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomas LIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShow SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Hours after the US and Iran announced a ceasefire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump took to social media with insulting, triumphantalist messaging that reneged on America’s promise to suspend its own blockade of Iranian ships. The Strait closed again, Iran attacked two ships and the U.S. attacked and took over an Iranian cargo vessel. Peace talks are supposed to start Wednesday—but will US envoys be talking to themselves?• Republicans have few days left to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But Trump, GOP leaders and White House officials have failed to come up with a workable framework for months—and there is no agreement.• Progressive Bulgaria, the party led by former President Rumen Radev, wins general elections in Bulgaria with 44.7%, a better-than-expected performance and one of the largest parliamentary mandates by any party in recent years. Warmer relations with Russia are likely.• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says that Canada's strong economic ties to the US were once a strength but are now a weakness that must be corrected.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss:• Pope Leo XIV says the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” with nothing for “healing, education and restoration.” “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Leo said, presumably about Trump and Netanyahu.• Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia won a special election in New Jersey’s 11th District, by a landslide, allowing Democrats to further narrow Republicans’ razor-thin majority in the House to 217-214. AIPAC had interfered in the primary by going after incumbent Tom Malinowski, a self-described Zionist, because he wanted conditions on aid to Israel. • House conservatives, concerned that warrantless government surveillance of foreign individuals could sweep up data on Americans, shot down an 18-month extension Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. They have 10 days to talk.• Disgruntled employee Chamel Abdulkarim, 29, of Highland, California, is accused of causing $500 million in damage by setting an April 7 fire that destroyed a 1.2 million-square-foot Kimberly-Clark distribution center in Ontario. Abdulkarim, who worked through a third-party logistics provider, filmed himself setting pallets of paper goods ablaze, says the DOJ. “If you’re not going to pay us enough to [expletive] live… at least pay us enough not to do this,” he allegedly says. “I just cost these [expletive] billions,” he texted. “Luigi popped that mutherf---er,” Abdulkarim said in a call, “a lot of people are going to understand.”JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLEhttps://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowFOLLOW TED:https://rall.com/https://x.com/tedrallLISTEN ON SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuLISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM Eastern time. Today we discuss:• Immigration advisers in the UK are charging up to £7,000 to fake asylum claims for Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals to pretend they are gay.• Senior diplomats from Lebanon and Israel met in Washington as their host, Marco Rubio, tried to reach a ceasefire. It was attended by Lebanon’s ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and her Israeli counterpart, Yechiel Leiter. Leiter said they had agreed on a long-term vision that there should be a “clearly delineated border between our countries.” Trump says leaders of the two nations will talk today; Lebanon denies that.• The U.S. launches an online portal next week that lets businesses request refunds for tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will boot up CAPE, for Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries — so companies can submit claims for up to $175 billion. Customs is putting the burden on the importer. Customs is not figuring it out. • In September 2024, Amandla Thomas-Johnson was a Ph.D. candidate studying in the U.S. on a student visa when he briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest. In April 2025, ICE sent Google an “administrative subpoena”—not issued by a judge—requesting his data. The next month, Google gave Thomas-Johnson's information to ICE without giving him the chance to challenge the request

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• We can’t decide to make nice, or kill you. President Trump told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo he views the war with Iran "as very close to over." The U.S. and Iran could begin a fresh round of peace talks as soon as tomorrow after Trump's administration imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.• Can Lebanon expel Hezbollah? Following the first direct talks between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter hailed what he called a convergence of opinion about removing Hezbollah's influence from Lebanon. "The Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah," he said. "Iran has been weakened. Hezbollah is dramatically weakened. This is an opportunity." But nothing can happen without regime change in Iran—and maybe not even then.• Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school in Amherst founded in 1965, is set to close permanently due to low enrollment and financial problems.• Gov. Kathy Hochul proposes a tax on second homes in New York City worth $5 million and more, dubbed a pied-à-terre tax, aimed at the ultra-wealthy. It would affect roughly 13,000 homes, and would bump for homes valued at $15 million and again at $25 million.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Trump is trying to choke off the country’s lifeline with a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Iranians are betting that his tolerance for political pain is limited.• Iran is waging the conflict in the global markets. If no Iranian oil gets through the strait, prices could keep rising over time — some companies say they are planning for $175 a barrel. The Iranians understand the potential political effects of continued inflation in the U.S. less than seven months before midterms.• For expert analysis about the energy markets showdown, we will be joined by Mark Barteau, a renowned chemical engineer and expert in heterogeneous catalysis for fuels, chemicals, and energy processes. He serves as Vice President for Research at Texas A&M University, holding the C.D. Holland '53 Chair in Engineering with joint appointments in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. Previously, he directed energy institutes at the University of Michigan and University of Delaware. A National Academy of Engineering member with over 250 publications, his work advances clean energy and carbon management.• Ramsey County, Minnesota is investigating the arrest of a Hmong American man by ICE as a case of kidnapping, burglary and false imprisonment, officials announced Monday. On Jan. 18, ICE agents bashed open the front door of the St. Paul home of ChongLy “Scott” Thao, 56, at gunpoint — without a warrant — then led him outside in just his underwear and a blanket in sub-zero conditions. Thao is a U.S. citizen. The City of St. Paul is also investigating.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• In one of the most bizarre gambits in military history, Trump responds to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz with his own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. You can’t blockade—I blockade! Oil futures are soaring; stocks are down. (Tune in Tuesday as oil-markets expert Prof. Mark Barteau of Texas A&M joins to explain the economics of global oil markets and this game of economic brinkmanship.)• Peace talks in Islamabad collapse over the U.S. “take it or leave it” demand that Iran stop enriching uranium and surrender its stockpile, Israel’s war against Lebanon, sanctions, reparations, and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Is there still hope?• The 55-to-38 defeat of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, by Peter Magyar, leader of the center-right Tisza party, should deliver a sharp jolt to one of America’s two major political parties—the Democrats.JOIN US LIVE ON RUMBLEhttps://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowFOLLOW TED:https://rall.com/https://x.com/tedrallLISTEN ON SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuLISTEN ON APPLE MUSIC:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall

LIVE 9:00 am Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• In an unusually expansive way, Sebastian Gorka, senior counterterrorism director on the National Security Council, is designating leftist groups in Greece, Germany and Italy as terrorist organizations, to pressure foreign allies to investigate them and to search for connections with leftists here so they can surveil, investigate and imprison American opponents of Trump. • Melania Trump denies connections to Jeffrey Epstein and that Epstein introduced her to Donald. Why?• Trump warns Iran ahead of planned negotiations this weekend, to comply abide by terms he says were agreed on for a ceasefire, or he’ll order large-scale attacks on the country. 6 ships—no oil tankers—passed through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday. JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend peace talks in Islamabad. After a surge of suspicious trading on prediction markets, the White House tells staff not to use insider information on the Iran war to bet on financial markets.• If someone wants to break into your Signal chats, they might find a way to do so. The FBI recently extracted incoming Signal messages from a defendant's iPhone. The user had deleted the app, but the FBI scraped incoming messages from the push notification database, even though those messages were set to disappear.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Iran says Hezbollah and Lebanon were part of the ceasefire deal. Pakistan, the mediator, confirms Iran’s understanding, as do France and the UK. Israel keeps bombing anyway. Now Iran says the Strait of Hormuz, open for ten minutes, is closed indefinitely. Is this a ceasefire, a fragile ceasefire, or all-out war, and will scheduled talks happen in Islamabad on Saturday?• Desperate to end the war he started, Trump drafted an X post in which Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif pretended to ask the US and Iran to negotiate a ceasefire. But Sharif derped—and posted it with “*Draft - Pakistan’s PM Message on X*.” Iran is emboldened and Pakistan’s role as neutral arbiter has been exposed.• Americans oppose the war by a 2-to-1 margin. Trump also suffers from a credibility gap; a majority think he is lying about Iran. Republicans worry that Trump’s attempts to end his war with Iran are too little, too late to save them from losing the House and Senate.• For the first time, American men ages 18-26 will automatically be registered for the military draft by December.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

LIVE 12:00 noon Eastern time, Streaming Anytime:Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.Have a question for Ted and/or new co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• As we predicted, Trump TACOed again in the final hour, extending last night’s deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and agreeing to a ceasefire for another two weeks to allow the U.S. and Iran to hash out an end to the U.S.-Israeli War Against Iran. Israel, with a history of scuttling ceasefires, says it will continue to invade and bomb Lebanon, and is reported to have attacked an oil refinery on the country’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.• Sticking points include: the US demanding zero uranium enrichment on Iranian soil with full dismantlement of capabilities and stockpiles versus Iran's insistence on its sovereign right to enrich; Iran seeking immediate full lifting of all US sanctions and asset releases versus the US offering only phased relief tied to verifiable compliance; disputes over Iranian control versus unrestricted access through the Strait of Hormuz; the US pushing limits on Iran's ballistic missiles and an end to support for regional proxies like Hezbollah and the Houthis versus Iran's refusal to negotiate these defensive elements; and Iran's demands for US non-aggression pledges, possible troop withdrawal, reparations, and a binding UN resolution.• Gulf countries are being forced to re-evaluate their relationships with Israel, Iran and the United States — their main security guarantor — now that the war has exposed the vulnerability of their oil fields, water desalination plants, hotels and airports.• ICE shot another man, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, in Patterson, 80 miles east of San Jose. ICE claimed Hernandez is a member of the Los Angeles 18th Street gang and was wanted for questioning in El Salvador related to a murder. In a video, three ICE agents were seen flanking a black sedan pinned between two other vehicles – respectively at its front and back – with flashing police lights. As the officers reached into the vehicle, the black sedan reversed with its right passenger door open. That door collided with the car behind it. The agents had their weapons drawn as the car reversed.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeP

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST. Today we discuss:• Tick, tock…8 pm Eastern tonight is Trump’s self-chosen deadline for U.S. forces to begin destroying Iran’s bridges and power plants unless the Islamic Republic agrees to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. With all indications that Iran is not only winning but becoming a major economic player as a result of the Trump-Netanyahu attack, will Trump TACO out again?• Iran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told the AP. In return, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would also impose a fee of roughly $2 million per ship that it would split with Oman. Iran would use its share reconstruct infrastructure destroyed by American and Israeli attacks.• Australia charged Ben Roberts-Smith, once Australia’s most decorated soldier, with five counts of “war crime — murder” in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012, A former patrol commander of the Special Air Service Regiment, he received Australia’s top two military honors and was named Australia’s Father of the Year in 2013. In one version of events, one victim was a laborer who was handcuffed and kicked off a cliff.• Another ICE Lie: After an immigration agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis this winter, the federal government cast the injured man as an attempted murderer and the agent as the victim of a brutal beating. A video contradicts the agent’s claim that assailants had beaten him with a shovel and broom before he opened fire. The video lasts about 12 seconds and shows two men struggling with the agent—no shovel. Prosecutors did not watch the footage until nearly three weeks after they filed charges.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.livehttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JohnKiriakouLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-j

Have a question for Ted and/or new co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you.Beginning today, Q&A will be every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time.MERCH STORE: https://www.deprogram.live https://x.com/tedrallLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8Zu APPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-john-kiriakou-and-ted-rall/id1825379504