Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

Hantavirus Outbreak Climbs to 11: Here We Go Again? Mamdani Shamefully Slashes Veterans Services. California’s June Open Primary is Huge Opportunity the Indys. RIP, Donald Gibb AKA Ogre. World Cup Halftime Show. 

Paul Rieckhoff closes the week with a solo briefing on a scoreboard the cable shows won't put on screen. Trump returned from Beijing with no real wins, while a confidential U.S. intelligence assessment — first reported by The Washington Post — details how China is exploiting the war in Iran to gain ground on the United States militarily, economically, and diplomatically. Xi looked Trump in the eye and warned that mishandling Taiwan would lead to a clash with America. Trump, asked about promised arms sales to Taiwan on the flight home, sounded ready to sell them out the same way he sold out Ukraine. That's not partisan spin. That's the read from the no-BS chair.

From there, Paul walks through a 30-hour Russian missile and drone barrage on Kyiv, Hegseth canceling a U.S. brigade deployment to Poland (a gift-wrapped present to Putin), a new hantavirus cluster on a cruise ship that's giving early-COVID déjà vu, and Mayor Mamdani's shameful 13% cut to the NYC Department of Veterans Services right before Memorial Day. He also flags California's June open primary as a once-in-a-cycle chance for independents to actually move the needle, salutes Ukraine's drone operators schooling NATO at a Swedish exercise, remembers Donald Gibb, and closes with Harrison Ford's commencement call to the next generation. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, and a reminder that we're all in this together.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Join Paul for Veterans Meeting the Moment in New York this Monday.

-Join IVA and stand up to Trump’s Forever Wars.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms

Read more at Substack

Support ad-free episodes at Patreon 

Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook 

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
 

-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

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The Breakout YouTube National Security Star on How Do We Know What’s True? The Drone War is War Now. Independent Media and War Coverage. Air Force Saves 11 After Plane Crash.

Who can we believe on national security? That's the question driving this conversation. Paul sits down with Preston Stewart — West Point grad, two-tour Afghanistan combat veteran, field artillery officer, and the independent national security analyst who has built a million-plus YouTube following by cutting through the spin. They open with Iran, where the ceasefire is buying time but solving nothing, where Iran's missile and drone capacity is far less degraded than the White House claims, and where the Strait of Hormuz remains a loaded gun aimed at the global economy. Then they widen the aperture to Xi Jinping flexing on Taiwan, a Chinese regime that plays a hundred-year game while Washington burns through munitions in months.

From there it's Ukraine — where, for the first time since 2022, Kyiv has the momentum, hammering Russian air defense, oil refineries, and logistics deep behind the lines with homegrown long-range drones. Preston breaks down the kinetic sanctions strategy, the magazine-depth problem haunting the Pentagon, the terrorism threat we've quietly back-burnered, and the domestic deployments Trump is telegraphing for the World Cup summer. It's a no-BS conversation about what's actually happening on the modern battlefield, why independent veteran voices are filling the vacuum corporate media left behind, and why staying focused — on Iran, on Ukraine, on Taiwan — is now an act of citizenship.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Join IVA and stand up to Trump’s Forever Wars.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms

Read more at Substack

Support ad-free episodes at Patreon 

Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook 

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Army Cuts Training - Short Billions of Dollars From Iran and Border. Producer Prices Jump 6%. Dem Wins Nebraska Senate Primary-Will Drop Out to Support Independent Dan Osborn. Jason Collins, RIP. 

China is having a very good week. Trump landed in Beijing after a True Social tirade calling Barack Obama "the most demonic force in American politics," the Pentagon is asking for $1.5 trillion with no accountability, and new classified intel shows Iran has regained operational access to 30 of 33 missile sites around the Strait of Hormuz. The forever-war machine that was supposed to be "fast and easy" is now a sucking chest wound — bleeding the Army of $4-6 billion in training dollars, driving diesel up 13%, and handing Xi Jinping leverage he didn't have to earn. Paul Rieckhoff lays out the morning briefing with no-BS clarity, then rides into a conversation with the kind of leader the angry middle has been waiting for.

Our Meet the Independent Candidates Series continues as Brian Bengs returns — the Navy and Air Force veteran, former Air Force Academy law professor, and independent candidate for U.S. Senate in South Dakota — joins from the trailer outside the house he's still trying to finish. He talks about the cowboy code, the Bushido code, and why every public servant needs a creed. He breaks down why Mike Rounds' refusal to do his constitutional job on the Iran war is a systemic failure, why 98% of Rounds' money comes from corporate PACs while Bengs runs on small-dollar donors, and why the path is suddenly clearer for independent veterans like Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Bengs in South Dakota. This is what the rising independent veteran cavalry actually looks like — boots on the ground, talking to neighbors at the gas pump, riding for the brand of regular Americans.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check out Brian’s campaign and support him here.

-Join IVA and stand up to Trump’s Forever Wars.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms

Read more at Substack

Support ad-free episodes at Patreon 

Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook 

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Inflation Jumps 3.8%. Trump Disapproval on Economy Hits 70%! Senator McConnell is Not Well. Osborn Leads Ricketts in Nebraska. Mendoza Gives Trump the Stiff-arm. Kari Lake Appointed Ambassador to Jamaica!? 

It's Testimony Tuesday and the corruption is on full display. Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine are on the Hill asking Congress for $1.5 trillion more for the Pentagon — a Christmas tree budget designed to bankroll the unauthorized Iran war and whatever comes next, whether that's Venezuela, Greenland, Mexico, or Cuba. Buried in the same hearing: the Pentagon's own CFO admitting the Iran tab is now $29 billion and counting, $4 billion more than Americans were told. Gas is up, beef is up, tomatoes are up 40%, inflation just hit a five-year high, and 70% of the country disapproves of Trump on the economy. The pigs are at the trough and the rest of us are getting screwed.

Paul breaks down why the December defense vote is the real fight, why Hegseth's open defiance of Congress on Ukraine aid is impeachment-grade, and why FBI Director Crash Patel spending his testimony defending his sobriety is not a sign of a healthy republic. He hits the Mitch McConnell mid-hearing meltdown — fitness, not age, is the metric — calls out Kari Lake being shipped to Jamaica, flags Dan Osborn pulling ahead of Pete Ricketts in Nebraska, and closes with the people stepping up to be the vaccine: nurses on International Nurses Day, Ukrainian medics under shellfire, and the new Astronauts for America. Righteous anger, patriotic hope, no BS.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Join IVA and stand up to Trump’s Forever Wars.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms

Read more at Substack

Support ad-free episodes at Patreon 

Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook 

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

RFK JR on Hantavirus: We’re not worried about it. American Passengers Exposed Land in U.S. Body of an American soldier missing in Morocco recovered. 

Iran is the worst ceasefire in history — announced, broken, and now on “life support” — and two-thirds of the country wants no part of this forever war. Paul Rieckhoff opens Episode 519 with a no-BS read on what happens when an administration runs all gas, no brakes into a third month of bombing: gas prices stay punishingly high, the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, and the Chinese sit back and smile as 41% of our Navy is tied down outside Iran. Now Trump is heading to Beijing for a trade fight with Xi, with Tim Cook and possibly Elon Musk in tow, while Taiwan quietly slides onto the table.

From there it's a quick-fire briefing across the stories the cable nets are letting fall below the radar — ICE pulling a gun on a New York City teenager and dumping him bloodied across town, another lethal kinetic strike on an alleged drug boat off Venezuela with no accounting for the survivor, the loss of First Lieutenant Lamont Key Jr. during the African Lion exercise off Morocco, hantavirus quarantines at the only federally funded unit we have left, and a Russian Victory Day parade visibly hollowed out by Ukrainian drone pressure. Paul closes with Manosphere Monday's artist of the week — Ice-T, Army veteran and free-speech warrior — a Mother's Day salute to NYPD ESU officers who pulled a woman back from a Brooklyn ledge, and a reminder that the independent movement is the oxygen of this democracy.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Check out Paul on Piers Morgan Uncensored.

-Join IVA and stand up to Trump’s Forever Wars.

-Learn more about Paul’s work to elect a new generation of independent leaders with Independent Veterans of America.

-Learn more about American Veterans for Ukraine here.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

-Learn more about The Headstrong Project for Veterans, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It’s a show of strength. If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

Connect with Independent Americans:

Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all podcast platforms

Read more at Substack

Support ad-free episodes at Patreon 

Connect: Instagram  • X/Twitter • BlueSky • Facebook 

Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on X, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky
-Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community of Independent Americans. Get extra content, connect with guests, meet other Independent Americans, attend events, get merch discounts, and support this show that speaks truth to power. 

-And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch now in time for the new year. 

Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led Righteous Media. 

And now part of the BLEAV network! 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.