
It's Manosphere Monday and Paul Rieckhoff is broadcasting from high above New York City with a solo briefing built for the angry middle. The New York Times has confirmed that Navy SEALs escorted Cash Patel and nine others on what the Pentagon itself called a 'VIP snorkel event' next to the underwater tomb of the USS Arizona — one week before Memorial Day. Paul says if anything is impeachable, this is. Meanwhile the administration has quietly stood up a $1.8 billion fund to pay off allies of the president, Pete Hegseth is openly campaigning for House Republicans in Kentucky, ICE is banging on doors without warrants, and Trump's approval has cratered to 37%.
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Welcome to Independent Americans. Welcome to episode 526. I'm your host, Paul Reichop. It is Monday, May 18th. That means it is Manosphere Monday. All right, it's a whole new week and I'm coming to you from high above New York City, USA. If you don't watch us on YouTube, here's a good reason you can get a shot of this really cool office building that I'm in today. It's the 30th floor of a building in Midtown where tonight we will be hosting an event for independent veteran voices from all around the country a week out from Memorial Day. Memorial Day is One week from today. And we are bringing together veteran voices from all across America to combine, to share and to unite ahead of Memorial Day. I'm gonna be doing these once a month in New York and in Los Angeles. So I'll have one in June coming up in la, and one here every month going forward. And here in New York City, high above New York City, the weather is hot. It is hot. It is high 80s tomorrow, high 90s. Here it comes. Summer is coming. It's finally here. We fought like hell to get through the winter and summer is here in New York and all across the country. And we're going to be raising hell all summer. And today's artist of the day, right along those lines, is the Great Run DMC. Because 40 years ago, 40 years ago today, raising Hell changed music, fashion and culture forever. It's a multi platinum album, but it was also a movement introducing hip hop to the world and the most iconic relationship throughout history with my Adidas. From Hollis Queens to the world, the power and energy of Run DMC continues to echo. And they are raising hell. And that's what we're all doing all across this country, especially independents, and people are raising hell because they are pissed off. So as summer hits, the summer of 2026 and we are raising hell all across the summer, we are going to continue to bring you the five eyes that I bring you in every single show. Independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. Like the impact of Run dmc. Like the impact of hot weather, like the impact of our movement. I take you into this new week, no guests, just me. So let's raise some hell and let's stay vigilant. All right. I hope you had a good weekend. I had a good one. It was hot yesterday and we were on the flag football field and we were on the little league baseball fields and we were watching the Mets vs Yankees shout out to everybody in Queens in addition to Run dmc because Mets fans are happy they won one in a walk off taking two out of the three from the Yankees in the subway series. And and much more importantly, my big guy, the 10 year olds, 11 year olds and 12 year olds of the Crawfords had a walk off in the bottom of the sixth inning, two outs, full count, shout out to Ryan who had the big hit. And I told this kid, never gave up, he never gave up. And we had a great win for our kids and we're going to need that kind of energy because there is a lot of crazy stuff happening all across this country and reasons to raise hell. But There is one top topic foreign. Here's the topic. We're gonna have to raise hell all summer because if you're not angry, you're not paying attention. It's a new week and it's close to a new season. But it's the same kind of outrageous bullshit coming out of Washington and especially from this administration. And there's one story in in particular that we've got to talk about to lead things off just one week from Memorial Day, and it's that the New York Times has confirmed with new details that Last year, Navy SEALs used two boats to escort Crash Patel and nine others on what the Pentagon email called a VIP snorkel event next to one of the military's most sacred sites, the underwater tomb of the USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor. One Navy vet called the swim horrifying. I'm going to go further. I'm going to say it's impeachable. If nothing's impeachable, this should be. And it's a disgusting insult to our fallen of all generations, especially as we learn about it one week before Memorial Day. Taking a snorkeling trip around the USS Arizona is like going ATVing through Arlington Cemetery. Is truly nothing sacred. Crash Patel has got to go. Any member of Congress who doesn't call for him to go over this needs to go to. We need to raise some hell, people. And this is just one example of how this summer we're gonna have to raise hell and stay vigilant. All right, President Trump is back from China. Now he's trying to spin what looks like a nothing burger into a win. He came home with basically nothing. And he came home with stuff that actually probably hurt our position, including this comment. Play this clip, please, Chris from Fox News. You know, President Xi said something yesterday he talked about, and he wasn't referring to the last 15 months. He talked about America is a nation in decline. And I said, you're right. But he wasn't talking about. Because he said, what you've done in 14, 15 months is a miracle when you hear. So President Xi told Trump, America's in decline. Trump said, you're right. Except for me, of course. This is a problem. Xi had obviously a strong hand going into this week of negotiations. Trump had a weak one as he continues to get sucked into Iran and more. And they asked Trump about a number of national security issues. We talked about Taiwan. They also asked him about the cyber attacks that they have waged against the United States that are well reported and well documented. Play that clip, please. Chris did you talk to him about the cyber attacks that he's done in the United States or the mss? I did. And he talked about attacks that we did in China. You know what they do? We do, too. It's like the spying they're talking about. Oh, the spying. I said, well, we do it too. Look. No, I'm talking about spying. The question was asked to me yesterday, I guess. What about the fact that China's spying in the United States? Well, one of those things because we spy like hell on them, too. So what about the fact that China is putting in the US Infrastructure code that they could use if we, if you ever decided to come to the U.S. well, you don't know that. I mean, I'd like to see it, but it's very possible that they do. So this is our reality. This is our commander in chief, a guy who didn't focus on defending Taiwan, didn't focus on even defending the US from cyber attacks, instead focused on trying to craft a deal for Boeing and a bunch of rich CEOs. This is going to be a long, hot summer, folks. We're going to have to do a lot of hell raising. And our enemies are celebrating. Our enemies are celebrating. Our people are raising help because especially they see how much corruption is happening. I've talked a lot about it over the last couple weeks. I'm going to continue to focus on it. I think all Americans, Republicans, Democrats, and especially Independents, are fed up with the corruption. And there's more examples of it every single day. There's breaking news now that the Trump administration has created a $1.7 billion fund for allies of the president after he drops his lawsuit against the IRS. It's a $1.8 billion fund that can compensate supporters of Trump who contend they were mistreated by by Democratic administrations. The announcement came as part of a settlement that Trump did of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. So he's waging a lawsuit against the organization that he runs. He's settling, and now he's going to give out money from the government to his friends. Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth is doing hexithian things. Let's play that song, Chris, because you need it on a Monday. Pete Hegseth, acting Secretary of Culture War, was campaigning for a Republican House candidate in Kentucky. This is not done. Secretaries of defense are supposed to be apolitical and nonpartisan, not campaign for elected leaders. It was, it was politics by a cabinet official. That is a part of what Hegseth continues to do to blur the lines between what is accepted and what is not. This is part of his full scale effort to take out Republican mavericks Tom Massie. But now he's enlisting Hegseth and the Pentagon to wage political war against a political enemy. It's unacceptable. And in the Middle east, he's saying he suspended planned military attacks in Iran today and scheduled for tomorrow because serious negotiations are now taking place. It is going to be a wild and weird week of security and politics issues. People are understandably raising hell. And we all need to stay vigilant. All right. We also need to stay vigilant around ice. Don't lose focus on that. ICE continues to do more bad shit almost every day. Don't believe the government. Believe your eyes. They've gassed kids in Portland. They're busting into houses without warrants. And there was news out of Burlington County, New Jersey. Check this out. Mass ICE and DHS agents loitered outside a New Jersey woman's home, pounding on the door, peering through the windows and circling the property while she told them via a ring doorbell that she was out of town for a family death. When she asked if they had a warrant, they didn't answer. And Representative Herb Conaway later shared the footage, calling it harassment. Please play this clip. Please, Chris. Excuse me. Excuse me. That's my door. And that's an expensive door. Oh, this is the police. Why do you have a mask on? Cold out here, ma'. Am. Is anybody home right now? No. Two cars in the driveway. You mean to tell me there's nobody home? You're knocking on the door of a US citizen where my. My great grandfather was in world War his mother. Somebody's here. There's two cars in the driveway. No one's home. We had a. Who's we? My husband. Nobody. My daughter. My daughter. Okay. And it's just you three. That. That. It's just you three and you both aren't home? That is correct. That is correct. Get out of my house. Are we gonna have a problem? You don't have no warrant. I'm a US Citizen born and raised in New Jersey. Thank you very much. This is harassment. Masked guys who won't identify themselves, who don't have warrants, banging on the doors of people across this country. It's unamerican. It's unacceptable, it's unlawful, and it's unauthorized. And we all, especially around these issues of ICE where they're detaining citizens and cops and veterans and kids and kicking puppies and kicking indoors without warrants. If you're not angry you're not paying attention. We all need to unite this summer and raise some hell. And shut down ice, of course, put them on trial, shut them down. They cannot be allowed to continue this kind of un, American, unacceptable, unauthorized behavior. And we've got, especially on this shit, stay vigilant, all right? People are raising hell. So it should be no surprise that because of all of this outrage, from the corruption to ICE to the tariffs to Iran, Trump's approval rating has now dropped to 37%. This is the lowest level of his second term. People's view of him is handling the economy 29%. Only 29% of Americans say the economy is good. Trump's poll numbers continue to fall, and not just with Democrats, especially with independents and especially with Republicans. Because if you keep pissing off America and you keep dismissing what they care about, and you keep dismissing that gas prices are hitting $4.50 a gallon, and you keep waging war and trying to topple regimes and tell people that you're gonna be the peace president. Yeah, we've all heard those scary IRS radio ads that try to frighten you into calling. But Tax Relief Advocates is different. If you owe the IRS 5,000, 50,000 or even $500,000, TRA has a solution for your tax problem. It doesn't matter if you're in your car or at work or with your kids, no matter where you are, visit tra.com don't lose hope. TRA could reduce or even eliminate what you owe. Their passion is taxes and helping people and businesses fix IRS problems. They have over a thousand five star Google reviews and an A plus rating with the Better Business Bureau. You no longer need to fear the irs. Generous tax relief programs are available now to give you a fresh start. So don't wait. Simply visit tra.com that's tra.com or call 800-583-6428. Once again, that's 800-583-6428. Tax relief advocates. Real solutions for real people. They're gonna raise some hell and they're gonna stay vigilant. All right. Mondays are always interesting and there is more reason to raise hell. Because you may not have seen this, but over the weekend the US Conducted combat operations in Ready for it. Can you guess? Nigeria. Yes, Nigeria. Over the weekend, AFRICOM posted that last night's operation targeted a significant presence of ISIS fighters in northeastern Nigeria, eliminating multiple high value individ including Abu Bilal Amanuki. So Nigeria, most Americans will never even notice. If you listen to this show, you Watch this show. You will notice, but most Americans won't, which is just like the White House wants it. They don't want people to notice. And Trump's forever war rolls on into Africa. Now, speaking of Africa, the World Health Organization has now declared an Ebola outbreak as a global health emergency. We've tracked on this, but now there are confirmed cases in the capitals of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is no approved vaccine for this strain. Now, keep in mind, the president has pulled us out of who. He has attacked his own health secretary. Sorry, Health resources. Across hhs, we have gutted the cdc, and the scale out of the outbreak could be much larger than currently detected and reported. So the USO is declaring a public health emergency of international concern. Eight of the 13 samples collected in various tested areas tested positive. There are significant uncertainties, the World Health Organization said, about the true number of affected persons and geographic spread associated with the event at this time. So there is an Ebola outbreak and we are not a part of the who, which is tracking on that outbreak. And the US has no reported cases so far. But we should be vigilant. And our enemies are celebrating. Our enemies are celebrating. So let's stay on the national security stuff, because sometimes you miss this. But let's go a bit below the radar. So every unpopular war has a pretext. Every unpopular and unjustified war needs its weapons of mass destruction. It's WMDs. And Cuba has got a new one. Now, Cuba is next. Believe Trump when he says it. And this weekend, Axios exclusively reported that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and recently began discussing plans to use them to attack U.S. assets. That's according to classified intelligence shared with Axios. And they go on to say the intelligence could become a pretext for US Military action. The Trump administration is looking for a reason to justify a war against Cuba and an unauthorized war, because they won't ask for permission from Congress, of course. But still, still, still, still, the most important story in the world is still that Donald Trump could do anything he wants with the most powerful military the world has ever seen, and nothing is stopping him. And Cuba is next. Believe Trump when he says it and stay vigilant. All right? He's going to continue to spin and manipulate the national and international conversation, whether it's the truth about Iran or what he wants to do in Cuba. And he's going to continue to attack the media. Last week, he attacked David Sanger of the New York Times on Air Force One for asking for tough questions and now lots of folks are pushing back, including a spokesperson for the New York Times who said reporting isn't treason, it's foundational to a free press and the work that America's founders wrote the First Amendment to protect. We will continue this important constitutionally protected work. And Admiral Stravities, frequent guest on this show, Hope, will join us again soon, wrote that he stands with David Sanger and I do, too. Because we can't let the bastards get us down. We can't let them continue to undermine an attack on free free press and free speech. We've got to stay vigilant, folks. We've really got to stay vigilant. All right, let's talk about Ukraine for a second. Today is day 1500 almost of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, and Ukraine is raising hell. We talked about it last week on the show with Preston Stewart. If you didn't hear that, go back and check it out. Preston Stewart's become a juggernaut on YouTube, but we've talked about will Ukraine hit Moscow over the weekend? They did. They managed to hit a major oil refinery inside of Moscow, one of the most protected facilities in the country. This is hitting Moscow where it hurts. This is influencing public support around Putin. This is continuing to ratchet up. The pressure around Putin comes on the backs of a terrible wave of drone and missile strikes last week that killed dozens of people, including children. But Ukraine is fighting back, as they should. They are hitting back. They are raising hell. They are inspiring the world and they are staying vigilant. From high above New York City today, I am trying to stay vigilant. We are all trying to stay vigilant. As the heat comes. We're going to continue to tackle what I call Manosphere Monday, where we offer alternative voices that are breaking through in podcasting and international independent media. Sorry. And of course, in politics. So if you haven't heard my conversations with independent candidates, my Meet the Independent Candidate series, I'm going to continue to bring those to you on Wednesday. I'll have Karen Matthews, who is a Navy veteran and a doctor, who is running in a really important race in California. She'll be coming up on Wednesday. And next week is Memorial Day. So I'm going to bring these veterans together today in New York. We'll bring them together online. But I'll ask you to already start planning for your Memorial Day. It's one week from today. When I was at iav, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans America, we encouraged everybody to take one minute on Memorial Day to go silent. Just get with your family, friends, even if you're at the beach, even if you're in the mountains, even if you're working. Take one minute on Memorial Day to go silent. I'll remind you throughout the week. But I want to plant that seed now so you can go ahead and make some plans. And especially around the issues of our fallen, stay vigilant. All right, look, Trump is raising hell, too. And over the weekend, he got another head, another head to put on his spikes outside of the White House. Figuratively, of course, and politically, of course, as he took out Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict him in his 2021 impeachment trial. He couldn't get enough votes to continue a runoff. So he is going to be knocked out of the Senate race. It's a big victory for Trump as he smashes another GOP foe. And you should not underestimate his political power. Do not overestimate the success of the Democrats. The Democrats will not save you, but they are finding. He is finding ways to punish political adversaries, just like he did a couple weeks ago in Indiana. And keep your eyes on Kentucky, which is coming up where he wants to target Thomas Massie as well. I'll say this to Ken, to Cassidy and to Massie and any others. If he smashes you and drives you out of the Republican Party, how about you declare your independence and join us, because we are recruiting. The Republican Party is gone. The Democrats will not save you. And 45% of this country is independent more and more by the day. That includes many folks in unions. Unions have long been a source of the working class. Lots of veterans work in unions. I think unions are understanding they may have a particular moment of opportunity, especially in certain states. Over the weekend, Long Island Railroad workers went on strike, shutting down America's busiest passenger rail service for the first time in 30 years. I'm going to say something about this. My brother has been in the union for a long time. My I stand with unions. Unions are not perfect. They need reform, too. But there are a lot of independence in the unions. And I think this was a smart move by the union to do. Now with Mayor Mamdani here in New York City, a Democratic socialist who says he supports unions, and Governor Kathy Hochul, who is up for reelection. They've never had leadership that is more sympathetic or more movable. And as Memorial Day, summer travel and the World cup is coming, this is an optimal time for them to strike and raise some hell. Watch this space, folks, because I think unions will continue to flex, especially against Democratic governors in an election year, and especially when they can shut things down like the World cup and raise some hell. Stay vigilant. All right. We talk about a lot independent candidates and issues. We are the people's champion. We're not moving the needle. We are the needle. I've met more and more of them over the last couple of weeks. Independent Veterans of America will continue to roll out endorsements. Check out the website independentveteransofamerica.org, linked in the show notes. And if you want to run, please apply for endorsement. Let us know about your candidacy. If you know about an independent veteran who hasn't been endorsed yet or might not be on our radar, send them our way and help us field this new generation of leaders who will meet the moment. Stay vigilant. All right, let's talk about sports. There's a lot happening in sports that's adjacent to politics, as I've said. And over the weekend, there was a big mixed martial arts fight on Netflix. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano in a hugely hyped event. The undercard was also great with Junior Dos Santos and Nagana and a couple others, but the huge fight was legendary Ronda Rousey against legendary Gina Carano. Ronda Rousey wanting her typical armbar. The arm collector got Gina Carano to tap out in about 12 seconds in some fantastic fights. But Dana White was probably watching down in Mar A Lago and pissed. That's why he announced that Conor McGregor will be returning to the UFC right during the middle of it. But the numbers on Netflix looked huge. I want to put this out there. Jake Paul is behind mvp, this group that's trying to compete with ufc. And you may or may not be a fan of Jake Paul, but if you want to not support UFC because of Dana White's association with and celebration of Trump, this might be your alternative. Another alternative, something that Trump has thankfully not touched yet, is the NBA. And the NBA Conference Finals are now set. The Final Four. We know which four cities will be raising hell for the next week. The Cleveland Cavaliers demolished demolished the Detroit pistons last night, 125 to 94. Mobley was awesome. Mitchell was awesome. And now it's the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night against mine New York Knicks. And tonight, another fantastic matchup as the spurs go into Oklahoma City. It's Victor Bobayama versus SGA and much more. And then Tuesday night, the Knicks are at home against the Cavaliers. This city behind me will be blazing. Everybody will be so excited and they're so amped up. So I say bring on Cleveland. It's what we want. Especially since we now have a home court advantage at msg. Somewhere back there, MSG will be rocking. New York City is already buzzing. So let's go Knicks. And some hell will also be raised in two countries tonight because there's a Game 7 as the Buffalo Sabres will host the Montreal Canadiens. Game 7. It's all tied up 3, 3. So by tomorrow we will know. And tonight it will be USA versus Canada, Canadiens versus Sabres. Check that out. But sports is going to be good. Sports is going to unite us. We've got the World cup coming this summer. We're going to bring a lot of hell in support of your favorite team. And it's a good reason going into this Monday to stay vigilant. All right, finally, let's talk about a summertime something good. Something good. Nine eleven is still a couple weeks away. Memorial Day is coming up, but especially on Manosphere Monday. I want to celebrate maybe one of the greatest helpers of all time over the weekend was the birthday of Wells. Remy Crowther, otherwise known as the man in the red Bandana. I get goosebumps every time I say it. Wells would have been 49 over the weekend. If you don't know his story, on September 11, 2001, Wells did what heroes do. He put other people ahead of himself. He found people trapped in the south tower of the World Trade center, led them to safety, and went back for more again and again and again. Because of his courage, his calmness, his selflessness, at least 10 people were saved by him. Wells's story is not only about how he died, but about how he lived with character, service, humility, faith and love. Love for others. He was the kind of kind, giving person who did the right thing when it mattered most. That's why I want to highlight him, especially on Manosphere Monday. His red bandana was more than something he carried. It became a symbol of courage, sacrifice, and the power of one person to make a difference. So over the weekend, we honor Wells, and we honor Wells every year on this show and every day on this show. My kids read about him in their school, which I thought was so important. We remember his life. We remember his example, and we remind ourselves to think a little less about ourselves and little more about others. So happy birthday, Wells. Let's never forget Wells. Let's look for the helpers always. And stay vigilant. All right, it is Monday. I hope I got you off to a good start here. We're daily now. We're going to continue to bring you shows all week. We got great guests coming up. In the weeks to come. We will focus on Memorial Day. I'll continue to bring you veteran voices who understand national security and what Memorial Day is all about. If you haven't seen some of those shows, they're all linked in my bio, they're all on our YouTube page. And we're going to continue to keep pushing and keep adding light to contrast the heat end raise the right kind of hell. So subscribe if you haven't already hit that subscribe button on YouTube. On Spotify, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. I know some of you thought about it. You haven't really done it. Now's the time to do it. You can also go to IndependentAmericans US where you can sign up for TMI, the Morning Independent. It's been launched. It's out there every morning. You can get a recap from us on the stories you need to know with our special kind of independent attitude because America is more divided than ever before. But here at Independent Americans, we're working to change that. Bringing heat sometimes, but mostly bringing light that you don't get from other places. So if you're now among the 45% of Americans who are independent, this is your show, your place to raise some hell like Run DMC did and always does. Because our independent movement is hope for the future. I'm going to say it again. I said it last week. Joe Rogan says we're politically homeless. We're not homeless. We're free. And as we come up to July 4th, America's Independence Day, our birthday, and America 250, it's a good reminder that the first President of the United States was also our only independent President of the United States. He said it. We live it. Country over party, people over politics, light over heat, challenging the status quo every single week even when it's hot. And fueling a new movement all across our society. And our movement is growing. So I hope you can help us bring the hope that is the oxygen of our democracy. If you enjoyed this episode with me, please share it far and wide. Invite others to declare their independence, especially if they're pissed off about Cash Patel snorkeling over a memorial site. Or they're pissed off about Trump setting up a billion dollar fund for his buddies. Or they're pissed off because Democrats continue to get their ass kicked. Stay vigilant, my friends. Invite others to declare their independence because eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. No, you're not alone in your vigilance. We're all vigilant and we're all in this together. I'm your host, Paul Rykoff. Thank you for tuning into Independent Americans. I will see you tomorrow. Happy Monday. Keep raising some hell and stay vigilant, America. Stay vigilant. Check this out. He tells me the left and right are dreams for those without a clue and when you wait, it's time to grow and it's not cool to believe in school but if I can say one thing I've seen the children of the revolution and the good trouble they can. He says the red and blue are dead and independent is an attitude an island in the sea of rhetoric. And when you wait, it's time to grow. Power by Righteous Media. If you like the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.
In this episode, host Paul Rieckhoff dives solo into the week's hottest news, focusing on the controversial actions of the Trump administration: a new $1.8B fund to reward political allies, fresh U.S. combat operations in Nigeria, and the latest alarms about a supposed “drone threat” from Cuba—questioning whether it sets the stage for unauthorized military action. Rieckhoff frames 2026’s “summer of hell-raising” for independents, amplifies calls to stay vigilant, and underscores the urgent need for accountability, integrity, and action.
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Assertive, fired-up, patriotic, and unapologetically independent. Rieckhoff is relentless in holding both parties accountable, encouraging activism, and injecting passion and urgency into the independent movement.
For those who missed the episode, this breakdown ensures you can follow and act on all the major themes, controversies, and calls for vigilance, unity, and independent action this week.