The Tom Sullivan Show

Xi's leaving Washington largely empty-handed — no Taiwan talk, no real deals, and most Americans never even saw the ceremony live thanks to the ongoing press ban. But here's what deserves attention — while Trump's been pushing American companies to bring business home, he hosted a state dinner Thursday night where Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, Pichai, Huang, Altman, and Tim Cook all sat down with Xi so...

The Xi-Trump summit wrapped with basically nothing to show for it — trade, AI, and rare earths got discussed, no real breakthroughs happened, and none of the five major networks even aired it live thanks to Trump's press ban standoff. Still, this was Xi's first Washington visit in 11 years, and three more meetings are already reportedly planned over the next year at different locations. Netanyahu...

Xi Jinping is in Washington for his first visit in over a decade, and Trump is rolling out rare pageantry — greeting his plane personally, a full state dinner with Silicon Valley's biggest names Thursday night. But it's drawing real criticism, including from Republican Senator Roger Wicker, who said on the Senate floor he would have advised against inviting Xi for "such a lavish welcome" given tro...

Something a little different today. Instead of our usual format, this episode is a full live broadcast — I filled in today for vacationing host Sam Shane on my old flagship radio station, so what you're hearing is essentially a live talk radio show rather than a tightly produced podcast segment. Expect a longer, looser, more conversational format with listener calls and real-time reactions to the...

After Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, all five major networks — even Fox News — banded together and completely suspended pooled TV coverage of the President in protest. That means no video coverage of his UN General Assembly speech this week, and no cameras when he hosts Xi Jinping at the White House for a state dinner, unless this standoff ends first. CNN, MSNOW, and...

Trump announced Friday he's banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House "effective immediately" over what he calls fake news, warning more outlets could follow. Presidents have always complained about the media and vice versa, but this is different, and it's already headed to court — Schumer compared it to what dictators do, and even the White House isn't clear on whether journalists we...

People — including members of Congress actively writing AI regulation — are expressing incredibly confident opinions for or against AI without actually understanding what it is or how it works. That's a real problem when these are the people who might end up writing the rules. We call it out directly today. Meanwhile, Trump said it again — we're close to ending the war with Iran and they really wa...

The Fed raised interest rates today for the first time since 2023 — a unanimous quarter-point hike to 3.75-4%, directly against Trump's public demands for cuts. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who Trump himself appointed just months ago, said plainly that inflation is the problem, and the Fed doesn't expect it back to target until after 2028. Iran war-driven oil prices and record $6 diesel are the main cul...

The Supreme Court just handed President Trump a 7-2 defeat, ruling that his executive order did NOT give the USPS enough time to implement new mail-in ballot rules before the 2026 midterm elections. We break down the ruling, Justice Kavanaugh's key concurrence on the compressed timeline, the Thomas-Alito dissent, and why Trump says this legal fight is far from over. Plus: FBI Director Kash Patel f...

Most Americans say they're anxious about AI — but is some of that anxiety being fed by Chinese messaging designed to slow us down in the AI race? Same question for data center backlash. And do you actually want Congress writing the technical rules for AI companies? We dig into all of it. Meanwhile gas and diesel keep climbing and here's why — Houthi rebels just seized Yemen's entire Red Sea coastl...

Twenty-five years ago today, everything changed. Those of us who were adults that morning will never forget — but a new generation is growing up knowing 9/11 only as history, not memory. Today we set the news aside and share firsthand stories from survivors, first responders, and families who lived through that day, so the memory of what we lost — and who we lost — stays alive for the people who w...

Trump promised a $5,000 "Trump Dividend" to every adult American if Republicans hold both the House and Senate in November — but here's the problem. The President has no unilateral authority to issue this; Congress would have to pass a roughly $1.3 trillion bill, on top of $40 trillion in existing national debt. Vance already started walking it back within hours. And dumping that much money into t...

Someone scheduled the GOP's first-ever midterm convention the same night as the NFL season opener — Seahawks vs. Patriots, a Super Bowl rematch on NBC. Vance's keynote goes head to head with kickoff. Bad planning or just bad luck? Trump said today the Iran war will end shortly after the midterms — a specific promise after six months of "almost over." Same day, oil spiked hard — Brent crude hit $10...

This Friday is the 25th anniversary of September 11th, and there's a real controversy in New York this year. Mayor Mamdani says he'll attend the Ground Zero ceremony despite nearly 100,000 people signing a petition asking him to stay away, retired Port Authority officers directly asking him not to come, and pushback from George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani — all centered on his appointment of a lawyer...

Trump posted "LOWER THE RATE OR I'LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT," floating a total trade embargo with Canada, Mexico, and others as leverage against the Fed. A Wharton professor called the idea crazy, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh just told Jackson Hole the Fed still has work to do on inflation, not room to cut. We explain why publicly attacking an independent Fed usually...

Millions are hitting the road for Labor Day despite high gas prices, but the real inflation threat is diesel, which is climbing fast. Everything you own arrived on a diesel truck, and your food was grown with diesel-powered equipment — so diesel inflation quietly hits everything. Part of the problem is structural — America hasn't built a new major refinery since one went up in Louisiana in 1977, n...

Why does it take nearly a year just to decide if there's enough evidence to hold a trial for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk? We ask directly. The Lindsay Clancy jury is deadlocked, and honestly, we'd be stuck too — prosecutors threw 80 expert witnesses and 300 pieces of evidence at them. That's overload, not clarity. Tiger Woods just had a DUI-related charge reduced to reckless driving ag...

The on-off-on-off war with Iran is on again, and right on schedule, oil prices are climbing and inflation is set to follow. Trump wants the Fed to cut rates, insisting "other things" besides his own policies are driving prices up — he never says what those things are, and we call that out directly. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has resigned after 18 months, following months of clashes wit...

Trump announced a massive oil deal with Venezuela, claiming U.S. control over 65 billion barrels and promising lower gas prices. Reality check — it's a 25-year deal, not 100 years, the legal authority behind it is genuinely unclear since the full terms have never been published, and Chevron is the only major U.S. oil company actually willing to expand there. Aging ports and power outages mean prod...

Trump says "we won" and Iran is "close to over" — he's been saying versions of this since March. Does he believe it, or is it just managing the narrative? Meanwhile, shifting to economic pressure instead of more strikes actually looks like the smarter play at this point. A federal judge blocked the Postal Service's new mail-in ballot rules for the midterms, ruling compliance is basically impossibl...

Tomorrow is six months since the Iran war began, and it's not the anniversary anyone planned for. The current strategy is economic pressure alone — no more active strikes. We ask honestly whether sanctions can actually win this on their own. In Nepal, a glacier collapse triggered catastrophic flooding that has killed over 360 people with more than 1,300 still missing, many buried under feet of mud...

Darline Graham just won the South Carolina Senate runoff, beating Ralph Norman with Trump's full backing, to take her late brother Lindsey Graham's old seat. Washington pundits said her honest "I don't know" answer on a Taiwan debate question would end her campaign. We said it would help her, and it did. Authenticity beat polish. She now faces Democrat Annie Andrews in November. Meta agreed to pay...

Dolly Parton has died at 80. We don't usually dwell on celebrity news, but she was never just a celebrity — singer, songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and somehow always genuinely happy in a way that made everyone around her feel it too. Born in a one-room cabin with eleven siblings, she never forgot where she came from and gave back on an extraordinary scale her whole life. We take today to pro...

Bessent launched "Operation Economic Outcast" against Iran, promising to cut off every economic lifeline the regime has. Big talk — but will we actually sanction Chinese, Russian, and North Korean banks? When CBS asked directly, Bessent wouldn't give a straight yes. I don't believe it's coming, and history says most sanctions programs like this don't achieve their stated goal, even when I hope thi...

A 35-year-old Albany woman pledged allegiance to ISIS and plotted to bomb the New York State Capitol and kill state senators — the FBI caught her buying bomb supplies and arrested her this week. Investigators used surveillance including Flock license plate cameras to help build the case — the same technology cities keep canceling contracts for over privacy concerns. We ask if this changes that deb...