Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

A quick-hit media blitz — Paul Rieckhoff's back-to-back TV appearances in one place. First, on NewsNation Now, Paul unpacks Trump's expanding conflict with Iran: the worst ceasefire ever, missiles still flying, the Strait of Hormuz unsecured, and the regime controlling the tempo while our military gets sucked into what he calls a "sucking chest wound" that's dragging down the economy and Trump's poll numbers. He breaks down the new US–Ukraine Patriot partnership announced alongside Zelensky — better late than never, and real upside for American national security — why defeating Russia is the only road to a deal with Putin, and why Graham Platner's collapse won't save the Democrats in Maine, where a toxic party brand and 300,000-plus independents will decide the race.

Then, on CNN's OutFront with Erin Burnett, Paul joins former Senator Barbara Boxer to press two questions Americans deserve answers to. First, the president's stumbles — the word confusions, the wrong names, the moments of visible fog — and why, just as with Biden, health questions about a sitting commander-in-chief actively directing troops in combat are fair game and dangerous to ignore. Second, the Qatar-gifted jet: the national security risk of a foreign-donated aircraft, the roughly $400 million in taxpayer money to renovate it, and the murky story behind the blinds-down flight home. Paul's bottom line — we can't believe Trump, we can't believe the Iranian regime, and a president putting himself ahead of national security is deeply troubling. Stay vigilant.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-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:

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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. 

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The Democrats Will Not Save You in Maine—or Anywhere. Cuba is Next. Sen Mitch McConnell is MIA. Independent is Not “a Schtick”. World Cup. And New Professional Women’s Baseball League! 

Trump's forever war is expanding faster than anyone in the mainstream press is willing to say out loud. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has quietly invited more than 60 countries to a meeting framing Antifa as a transnational terror threat — the rhetorical scaffolding for troops in American cities and a move on Cuba before the midterms. Iran is a sucking chest wound draining roughly 40% of the US Navy into the Arabian Sea. A brave American, Commander Gabriel Edwards, was lost in the Seahawk crash on July 1st and almost no one covered it. And at NATO, the commander in chief confused Iran with Japan and Zelensky with Putin on camera.

Paul goes solo to connect the dots the two-party machine won't. The Graham Platner collapse in Maine is a case study in why Democrats cannot be trusted to vet, to listen, or to win — and why disrespecting the 45% of Americans who now call themselves independent is a losing strategy against Susan Collins or anyone else. Plus: Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized for three weeks with no straight answers, Ukraine is quietly winning, and there's still real reason for hope — the World Cup, a brand-new women's professional baseball league, and a growing independent movement that refuses to put on a jersey.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-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.

Two stories broke in the same news cycle, and both are gut punches for anyone who cares about accountability. In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate and former Marine Graham Platner has withdrawn after a Nazi tattoo, ugly online history, and rape allegations from two women who went on the record. Paul was skeptical from day one — and lays out why Platner ducked every veteran interviewer who might have pressed him, why the progressive left keeps chasing candidates who look the part instead of doing the work, and why Maine, one of the most independent states in the country, deserved better than a binary between a compromised Democrat and Susan Collins.

Then there's Iran. The so-called ceasefire was never real. Trump is now floating boots on the ground, still talking about hitting Cuba, and managed to blow up relations with Japan, Zelensky, and Putin in a single day. This is President Mayhem at peak volume — all gas, no brakes — with 50,000 U.S. troops in harm's way, 40% of the Navy in the region, and the Iranian regime emboldened. Paul explains why this is Trump's forever war, why Congress likely can't stop it, and what listeners can actually do about it before the December defense bill vote.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-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.

Plus: Trump is a Jinx. US Men Implode in Seattle. Platner Continues to Implode in Maine. Optimism for America 250. The New Toy Story is Important.

America just turned 250, Team USA just got bounced from the World Cup, and the MAGA machine is running all gas, no brakes on everything from Iran to the ranks of our own military. Paul sits down with Admiral James Stavridis — former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, former Southcom commander, and author of the new novel 2084 — for a morning briefing on where the country actually stands. Stavridis lays out what the administration is trying to land in Venezuela and Cuba, why he believes this time really is different in Havana, and why the Iran war has gone very badly for a White House that never should have started it.

They get into the inexplicable firing of General Chris Donahue and Army Chief Randy George, the internal palace intrigue around Hegseth and Vance that may explain it, and the three circuit breakers — the uniformed military, the courts, and the American people — that Stavridis believes still stand between Trump and an Insurrection Act moment this fall. He also makes the case for a four-party America, why the political center is closer to itself than to its own extremes, and what it will take — charisma, message, money — to finally break the rigged two-party system. It's a conversation for every member of the angry middle who needs both righteous clarity and patriotic hope heading into the biggest midterms of our lifetimes.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-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.

FIFA, Balogun, and the Trump Jinx. July 4/America 250/Independents Day Reflections. 

It's America 250 week, the World Cup has swept through New York, and tonight Team USA plays Belgium in what host Paul Rieckhoff calls the biggest US soccer match in his lifetime. Naturally, Donald Trump has already elbowed his way into the story — publicly pressuring FIFA over Folarin Balogun's red card, then taking credit for the reversal, and floating that if the US loses, the match might be rigged. Paul draws the contrast that matters: a young Brooklyn-born striker handling injustice with grace versus an authoritarian president trying to suck the oxygen out of a rare unifying moment. 

From the Winter Garden next to Ground Zero to open-primary petitioners sweating it out in the New York heat, this solo briefing connects the World Cup to something bigger — the fight for an America that still belongs to its people, not its parties. Paul breaks down the Patriot Front march in DC, Russia's continued assault on Kyiv, the 3.9 million veterans locked out of closed primaries, and the 46,000 petition signatures that just landed open primaries on the New York ballot this fall. It's a no-BS reminder that even when the president is doing his worst, the country is doing some of its best work.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. See what we’re doing to change that.

-Visit Kalshi and trade on anything. Use code [INDEPENDENT] to get ten dollars when you trade ten.

-Join Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!

-Join IVA and help us get independent veterans elected to office.

-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.