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Trump news fatigue is real. That's not an accident — it's the playbook. Exhaust the public, contaminate every institution, and the most radical agenda in modern American history slides through while we're too tired to notice. On episode 538, Paul Rieckhoff delivers a solo Manosphere Monday briefing for the angry middle: the people who are done with the rigged two-party system but refuse to check out of the fight. Paul breaks down acting Secretary of Culture War Pete Hegseth blocking the promotions of at least seven Navy women and minority officers, leaving a one-star admiral slate with zero women. He unpacks Graham Platner's escalating problems in Maine and what the Democrats' all-in posture says about a party that keeps doing Democrat things. He gets into Jaxon Dart introducing Trump at a partisan campaign event and why Trump contaminates everything he touches — including the New York Giants. Plus Scott Pelley calling out the murder of 60 Minutes, Iran suspending talks, the Bab al-Mandab threat, and a mailbag from a DoD civilian combat vet getting the shaft on pay. There's a war going on outside. Stay vigilant. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trump wants his face on the money. Not on a coin after he's gone. Not on a statue some future generation can decide to keep or tear down. On a live, circulating $250 bill — while he's still in office and while it's still illegal under federal law to put a living person on US currency. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on television and called it nothing untoward. The Angry Middle is calling it what it actually is: a strongman vanity project at a moment when most Americans can't scrape $250 together for groceries, gas, and rent. In this conversation, Paul and the crew break down the legacy push — the commemorative coin, the Trump-branded passports out of DC, the National Park Pass swap, the Kennedy Center rebrand, the arch on the White House lawn — and why this is all gas, no brakes executive ego dressed up as patriotism. They get into the Republican holdouts (Tillis, Cassidy, Cornyn) who Trump has already purged and who are about to hand him an embarrassing no vote, the ten-year design timeline that makes the whole thing a fantasy anyway, and the cabinet-meeting sycophancy culture that produces ideas this absurd. Then a hard left turn to the Knicks Finals — and a non-partisan plea to keep both Trump and Mamdani out of Madison Square Garden before they jinx the whole run. -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.

Fifty thousand troops. Zero reporters on a ship. Zero reporters on a base. That's the reality of the Iran deployment under Trump and acting secretary of culture war Pete Hegseth — and it's the kind of information vacuum that's never existed in modern American conflict. Paul is joined by ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, one of the most respected and trusted voices in military journalism, for a no-BS briefing on what happens when the Pentagon shuts the press out of a shooting war. This is a conversation about more than access. It's about trust — the trust the American public places in a non-political military, the trust troops place in journalists who actually show up, and the trust that gets shredded when a defense secretary turns a West Point graduation into a culture war rally. Paul and Martha walk through the Memorial Day lines that got crossed, why embeds matter, what the rank and file actually think about the politics being shoved down their throats, and why the easiest way to stop the truth is to never let anyone see it in the first place. -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.

Indy Duggan Out of Mich Gov Race. New Indy in Illinois Gov race. QB Jaxon Dart Endorsed Trump. Trump Attacks Colbert. Hochul Misses a Layup. Lander & Mamdani Attack Open Primaries in NYC. RIP, Rob Base. It's episode 535 and Paul Rieckhoff is flying solo on a Friday — no guest, just a no-BS rapid-fire briefing on a week where the wheels kept coming off. Trump is still dangling a tentative Iran deal that looks suspiciously like the Obama agreement he tore up, while the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, the regime stays in place, and the nukes stay unsecured. Fourteen wounded American troops are at Walter Reed. The president walked the same halls for his own physical and didn't stop in. Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Romania — NATO territory — and the silence from this White House has been deafening. From there Paul takes the briefing into Pete Hegseth's culture-war speech at West Point and his cheesy green-screen propaganda videos pitching a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget, Trump's jealous AI dumpster video attacking Stephen Colbert, Jaxon Dart's locker-room-dividing endorsement, and a revealing sidewalk confrontation outside his kids' public school with Brad Lander — who openly admitted he opposes open primaries. This is the rigged two-party system in full color, and the Angry Middle is the story. Paul closes with what's still working: game sevens, the Spurs, 500 kids headed to a Mets game, and the reminder that joy is still a form of resistance. -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.

The State of American Media in this Time of War. Pentagon Blackout: Why No Reporters Embedded with Troops is a Loss for Everyone. How is America Right Now? The Hero Next Door - Stories from the Wars America Forgot. Martha Raddatz has spent decades doing the work most of Washington can't or won't — getting on the ground, walking with troops, sitting across from presidents, and refusing to look away. And she’s known Paul for two decades. The morning after she received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy, ABC News' Chief Global Affairs Correspondent returns (previous appearance on episode 61) to the show to talk about the state of journalism, the blackout on military coverage, and her new book The Hero Next Door. This is the conversation that doesn't happen on cable news anymore, because the access has been cut, the embeds are gone, and the briefing room has been handed to the MAGA machine. Paul and Martha go deep on the propaganda Pentagon press corps, the eerie silence around 50,000 troops staged near Iran, the bridge between civilians and the military that keeps collapsing, and the human cost of forever wars that most Americans have tuned out. Martha shares the stories of the veterans in her book — a paralyzed Marine Raider turned founder, an Army doc operating on the wounded in Dnipro — and makes the case that curiosity, empathy, and a touch of outrage are still the only way to get to the truth. Martha Raddatz is in a class of her own. This episode shows why. -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.

The spin machine is at full tilt. The Strait of Hormuz still isn't clear, oil is hovering around $90, gas is pushing $5 a gallon heading into summer, and the president of the United States is telling Americans not to worry while his cabinet takes turns praising him on camera. Paul Rieckhoff joins Connell McShane on News Nation for a no-BS breakdown of what's actually happening — and what the MAGA machine doesn't want you to see. This is the Angry Middle's morning briefing on a presidency that doesn't seem to care about the midterms, a sycophant circle that can't tell the boss the truth about small business or gas prices, and a Ukrainian military that's holding the lines, hitting oil refineries inside Russia, and forcing Putin to cancel parades. Paul lays out why the next six months in Ukraine may be the real turning point of this war, why Trump's distance from working Americans is going to bleed into 2026 congressional races, and why a cabinet built on flattery is bad for any democracy — Republican, Democrat, or independent. -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.

Good Grief Camps Hope for the Next Generation. If We Stop, We Die: Ukraine’s Trauma. Memorial Day is not a sale. It's not a barbecue. It's a debt. In this special episode, Paul sits down with Bonnie Carroll — Medal of Freedom recipient, veteran, and founder of TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) — for the 31st annual National Military Survivors Seminar and Good Grief Camp in Arlington. Bonnie has spent three decades building the community that catches Gold Star families when the country looks away, and she brings the kind of clear-eyed, hope-forward leadership the Angry Middle is starving for. This conversation covers the ground most cable hits won't touch: the kids who grow up at TAPS and come back as mentors, the undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries showing up in autopsies of veterans lost to suicide, the moral injury still rippling out of Afghanistan, and the families on the front lines in Ukraine that TAPS helped stand up. Bonnie also explains why TAPS stays fiercely apolitical, what the Love Lives On Act would change for surviving spouses, and how she keeps going when the hits keep coming. If you've felt tired, isolated, or unsure how to honor this day, this is the briefing for you. -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.

It's Memorial Day weekend. Americans are visiting Arlington, honoring generations who stepped forward with integrity, sacrifice, and honor. And days before that solemn marker, the President of the United States floated cash payouts to the domestic terrorists who violently attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Not a pardon. A payout. Paul Rieckhoff and the panel break down why this isn't a tantrum or a distraction — it's strategy. Call it Plan C: when the military won't move and ICE is uncertain, you incentivize the insurrectionists themselves. You signal to every desperate, despised foot soldier that violence against the government will be rewarded. From there the conversation pivots to the other sucking chest wound of the week: House Republican leaders scrapping the Iran war powers vote because they didn't have the votes. Congressman Pat Ryan, a West Point grad and combat veteran, says out loud what veterans across the country are feeling — a generation of chicken hawks is sending other people's kids to die again, with Cuba teed up next and an aircraft carrier already in position. The panel maps the fracture lines: Massie carving out an anti-war, anti-tariff, pro-transparency lane; the manosphere abandoning the regime-change crowd; and the 45% of Americans who are independent and unaffiliated, looking for someone — anyone — who will speak for the angry middle. -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.

Cuba’s Castro Charged with Murder. Here Comes the Next Regime Change War. Panel Approves Trump’s Stupid Arch. GOP Revolt Over Slush Fund for Domestic Terrorists. Indy Bennett Makes Ballot in Maine. Until Next Time, Stephen Colbert. It's Memorial Day weekend, and Paul Rieckhoff is in no mood to soft-pedal. Tulsi Gabbard has resigned as Director of National Intelligence — the second Trump appointee to defect over Iran in months — and the administration is already telegraphing its next war. The Justice Department just charged Raul Castro with murder. The USS Nimitz arrived in the Caribbean the same day. Stephen Miller is on Fox doing the warm-up act. Meanwhile, the president is downplaying the 13 American service members killed in Iran, pausing a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, ignoring Ukraine, and telling a Coast Guard Academy audience he won't be leaving in 2028. This is a solo briefing for the angry middle, delivered with the urgency the moment demands. Paul walks through the GOP mutiny finally pushing back on Trump's $1.8 billion slush fund for January 6th insurrectionists, the three-plan scheme to disrupt the 2026 midterms, and the independent veterans — from Rick Bennett in Maine to Karen Matthews in California — fighting brutal ballot-access barriers to give the 45% of Americans without a party a real choice. He closes with a Memorial Day reflection on TAPS, the Good Grief camps, and a tribute to Stephen Colbert as a true patriot and conscience for America. This is what no-BS analysis sounds like when the stakes are this high. -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.

Trump Plummets in Polls with Independents, $5 Gas, and War With Iran He Can't Spin. We’re Not The Spoilers! The Surging Knicks. $1.8B for Insurrectionists and Violent Proud Boy Extremists? Is Cuba Next? Memorial Day Pain is a Reminder. The Real Spoilers are the Parties. Thank you, Stephen Colbert. Trump is in the 20s with independents, gas is over five bucks a gallon in some states, Memorial Day is about to remind Americans of the human cost of his Iran war, and Cuba is looming over the horizon. Meanwhile the administration is funneling what looks like $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to January 6 insurrectionists and violent Proud Boy extremists — including a reported $2-to-5 million ask from Enrique Tarrio. Paul Rieckhoff calls it Plan C: if the military won't invoke the Insurrection Act and ICE can't carry the water, you green-light the angry mob and promise pardons in advance. This is what corruption looks like, and it's the most immediate threat to free and fair elections this fall. In this special quick-fire episode, Paul takes you out of the studio and into the streets of Midtown Manhattan with highlights from two back-to-back media hits — one left of center on MSNOW, one right of center on NewsNation — same independent read on both. He breaks down why ten thousand Americans are walking out of the Republican and Democratic parties every single week, why Thomas Massie just got elevated by Trump's attacks, why the Democrats are the actual spoilers in Senate races in Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota, and why the rigged two-party system is finally cracking. Plus a Memorial Day shout-out to Stephen Colbert on his last show, and yes — a Knicks pick. -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.