Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff

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Oil Hits $120/Barrel. Gas Hits $4.30! Hegseth Gets Lit Up. Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

Coast Guard Bases Losing Power Due to Shutdown. Fed’s Powell Refuses to Leave. Voting Rights Act Slammed by SCOTUS. Mills Suspends Senate Campaign in Maine. Navy FB Player Lives the Dream with Steelers.

The rain has cleared and we can see what the Iran war actually cost. In this solo episode, Paul Rieckhoff breaks down the brutal arithmetic: $25 billion spent. 13 American soldiers killed. Hundreds wounded. Oil at $125 a barrel and gas at $4.30 a gallon — up 27 cents in a week. The Strait of Hormuz still not secured. The Iranian regime still in power. The enriched uranium still unaccounted for. After yesterday's testimony from Secretary Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Caine, the spin is gone — and the Pentagon wants $1.5 trillion more. Paul lays out why working Americans are paying the price for a war their leaders can't honestly defend.

Paul also takes apart Trump's state dinner for King Charles — 10 American billionaires, six Fox News hosts, zero Democrats — and calls out Trump, Hegseth, and Vance for siding with Putin while Zelensky and Macron call it like it is. There's hope in the mix too: a powerful breakdown of Heidenreich's path from the Naval Academy to a Marine Corps commission to the NFL draft, the kind of leadership that gives this country a future. Plus a look ahead at tomorrow's guest, comedian Eugene Mirman, after yesterday's conversation with Idaho Army veteran Todd Achilles. The show is now daily and just hit #15 on the charts. Independent is an attitude. Stay vigilant.

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-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.

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Iran War Has Cost $25 Billion So Far. Pentagon Wants $1.5T More. Independent Vet Todd Achilles For Senate From Idaho. Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Hegseth Struggles In The Hot Seat. Their King Is Better Than Our Wanna Be King. Dept Of War Name Change = $125m. Stabbing In Jewish Area In London.

Idaho is in play. That's not spin from a party operative — that's the read on a state where 60% of voters identify as independent or independent-leaning, where a sitting senator is the fourth oldest and seventh richest in the chamber, and where a farm kid turned tank commander turned tech executive is running neck and neck with him among informed voters. Todd Achilles is the first 2026 endorsement from Independent Veterans of America, and on this episode of Independent Americans he lays out the no-BS case for why the rigged two-party system is finally cracking in places nobody expected.

Paul Rieckhoff and Achilles get into the receipts: Jim Risch voting against the PACT Act and the CHIPS Act, a Senate Foreign Relations chair holding zero hearings on Iran or Cuba while the Pentagon books $25 billion in war costs and asks for a $1.5 trillion budget, and a $50 to $125 million bill just to rename the Department of Defense. They also dig into the human side — house parties with thirty-somethings who can't afford healthcare, 100+ town halls across all 44 Idaho counties, and a volunteer army built in an old restaurant turned campaign HQ. If you're in the angry middle and you've been waiting for proof that an independent veteran can actually win, this is your briefing.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Support independent veteran Todd Achille’s campaign for senate in Idaho.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

Connect with Independent Americans:

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

-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.

Gas Prices Hit Record High. The King is Here. $400M of Your Money for Trump’s Ballroom Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

DOJ Goes After Comey. FCC vs Jimmy Kimmel. 1100 TSA Officers Quit Since Shutdown. Kid Rock’s Apache Joy Ride with Hegseth. UAE Leaves OPEC. Gov Moore on Open Primaries.

A real king is in Washington this week, and the wannabe king in the Oval Office is making the most of the pomp. Paul Rieckhoff opens with King Charles and Camilla's visit, the Epstein questions nobody at the White House wants to touch, and the through-line that drives this entire briefing: Trump is busting up Congress, the UN, NATO, the World Bank, the EU, and now OPEC — and the institutions that held this country and this world together are being stress-tested in real time. Gas hits $4.18, the UAE bolts from the cartel, 1,100 TSA officers walk off the job, and most Americans have no idea any of it is happening.

From there it's a no-BS sweep across the front lines: a $400 million ballroom funded by your tax dollars after Trump promised to pay himself, a no-bid contract inflated 3X, Pete Hegseth taking Kid Rock on Apache joyrides while the chain of command rots, the FCC weaponized against ABC and Jimmy Kimmel, a renewed indictment push against Jim Comey over seashells on a beach, and 185 people killed in 54 unauthorized strikes on so-called narco boats with Cuba telegraphed as next. Then the inspiration: Ukraine killing 30,000 Russian troops a month, Norway co-producing drones for Kyiv, independent veteran Todd Achilles taking on an 83-year-old senator in Idaho, Wes Moore endorsing open primaries, and Horace Grant's goggles. Country over party. People over politics. Light over heat.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

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

-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.

White House Correspondents Dinner Shooting Fallout. Nobody Believes Anything Anymore. Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

Trump Calls Off Iran Peace Talks. DJT Disapproval Hits Record High. GOP Senators Losing Confidence In Hegseth. Independent Brian Bengs Officially On The Ballot In South Dakota.

A 31-year-old with a shotgun, a pistol, and a stack of knives tried to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. A Secret Service agent took a round to the vest. Wolf Blitzer lost a shoe. And UFC's Dana White called it "awesome." Paul Rieckhoff — combat veteran, IAVA founder, 9/11 first responder and past attendee of the event — flies solo on this Manosphere Monday to put the attack in context: this is our normal now, and the president most responsible for the atmosphere is the same one weaponizing it against the press. And, he takes you inside what the event (and the security) are really like.

From there it's a full and fast briefing — the collapse of Iran negotiations and Trump's billion-a-day bombing math, oil over $100 a barrel, Macron calling out the new axis lining up against Europe, GOP senators admitting Hegseth couldn't get reconfirmed today, and the White House's pearl-clutching campaign to cancel Jimmy Kimmel. Plus a real reason for hope: independent veteran and Senate candidate Brian Bengs officially on the ballot in South Dakota with the highest signature validation rate of any statewide candidate this cycle, and a Ukrainian grandma rescued from a shelled-out village by a ground robot with a blanket that read "grandma, get in." Independence is an attitude. Stay vigilant.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

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

-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.

WHCD Assassination Attempt & Our Broken New Normal: Political Violence and Betrayed Allies. QUICK HIT MEDIA BLITZ POD Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

There was an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner this weekend. Paul opens with a clear-eyed take on what that means: this is not a new normal, this is the normal, and the silence from the president and Congress is its own kind of failure. Political violence is now a permanent feature of the American landscape, and we still don't have a national security strategy that treats it as one. Stay vigilant doesn't mean stay anxious — it means demand that the people we pay to protect this republic actually do the work.

From there, Paul takes you inside his Morning Joe hit on the administration's plan to send roughly 1,100 Afghan allies — 400 of them children, 150 with relatives currently serving in the U.S. military — to Congo or back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. He puts names and faces on it: his own Iraqi interpreter Mohammed, now in Nashville, whose son plays football and whose daughter is thriving in school. Then he closes on the counter-story: Seth Bodnar in Montana, the rise of independent veteran candidates, and why 45% of the country is finally getting representation that doesn't wear a jersey for either failed party.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

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

-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.

Virginia, Iran, and the Cost of Chaos: Redistricting Fight a Red Flag for Our Democracy Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

The players are also the umpires — and that's why the game is broken. In this on-air conversation, Paul Rieckhoff lays out why the Virginia redistricting fight is a flashing red warning light for American democracy, not a win for either team. Republicans moved first in Texas. Democrats followed. And the 45% of Americans who now identify as independent are watching both parties gerrymander their way toward mutual annihilation while 10,000 voters a week walk away from the two-party system entirely.

From there the conversation shifts to the Strait of Hormuz, where Trump's three stated objectives in Iran — regime change, securing enriched uranium, and reopening the strait — remain unmet while 41% of the Navy is tied up and gas prices climb toward four dollars a gallon. Paul closes with a story that should not get lost: the administration's reported plan to send Afghan allies, including 400 children, to the Congo. A betrayal of the people who had our troops' backs, and a warning shot to every future ally who might consider standing with us. Righteous anger, rigorous analysis, and a reminder that independent is an attitude.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

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

-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.

Soldier Used Classified Info to Bet on Maduro Ouster. Trump Targets Naturalized Citizens. And Approves Executions By Firing Squad—For Real. Apr 25, 2026

Show notes

AI Kills 10% of Jobs at META. Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes’ Ombudsman. GTFO ICE. Prince Harry Goes to Ukraine—Trump Craps on Him. Friday Football: Draft Weekend.

Corruption is the top topic, and it's bleeding into the ranks. A Fort Bragg special forces sergeant just got indicted for using classified intel to bet $400,000 on Polymarket about the Maduro operation. The acting secretary of culture war, Pete Hegseth, is leaking on Signal, firing 21 generals, and floating "no quarter" from the Pentagon podium. Three carrier strike groups are now stacked in the Middle East. NATO allies are being threatened with suspension. And Trump is openly contemplating federal troops in Chicago, New York, and beyond. This is what a sucking chest wound looks like — and the bleeding isn't stopping.

Paul sits down with author, filmmaker, and combat journalist Sebastian Junger for a no-BS conversation about the question every American needs to be asking: will the military follow illegal orders? They walk through the murky chain — from a tactical nuke on Tehran to American troops on the streets of Cincinnati — and land on the real circuit breakers that remain: Chairman Dan Cain, the 21 fired generals, and an Angry Middle that still trusts the 82nd Airborne more than it trusts ICE. Plus the GTFO ICE campaign, the firing of the Stars and Stripes ombudsman, the 20,000 abducted Ukrainian children, and why removing Hegseth is the winnable fight right now.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

-Get some of Maine’s finest gear - check out Loyal Citizen.

-Remember Independent is an Attitude.

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

-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.

Hegseth Fires Navy Sec. Phalen. Strait Of Hormuz Still Not Open. Iran Hearings: Finally. Apr 23, 2026

Show notes

Outrage As Trump Betrays Our Afghan Allies. DOJ Loosens Medical Marijuana Restrictions. A Spirit Air Bailout? Independent Vet Seth Bodnar Gaining Steam. Boycotting the White House Correspondents Dinner. Draft Day!

Trump has signaled he may halt the U.S. resettlement program for the Afghans who risked everything to fight alongside American troops — and is reportedly negotiating to offload as many as 1,100 of them to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among them: interpreters, former Afghan Special Operations Forces, and roughly 400 children of U.S. service members, all stranded in Qatar for over a year after we evacuated them and then walked away. Paul Rieckhoff calls it what it is — a disgusting, shameful betrayal, and the latest compounding failure in a collapse that Biden owns, Trump owns, and Washington refuses to fix.

This solo briefing lays out the stakes clearly: sending these allies to Congo is effectively a death sentence, particularly for the women and girls, and it deepens the moral injury eating at American veterans who made promises in combat that their country won't keep. Beyond the human cost, there's a strategic cost — every ally we abandon is one more reason the next interpreter, the next tribal leader, the next local fighter refuses to stand with U.S. troops downrange. Our enemies are celebrating. Our veterans are not. And the Angry Middle needs to pay attention.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

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

-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.

Iran says FU to Trump—Seizes Ships. Gen. Sarah Zabel for Congress in Idaho’s 1st. Meet the Independent Candidate Series. Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Trump Wants to Send Afghan Allies to Congo to Die. Hegseth Bans Mandatory Flu Shot for Troops. Va. Passes New Dem-Friendly Map. The Mets Really Stink.

Episode 500. Iran is seizing ships, Trump is shipping our Afghan allies to Congo, Hegseth is killing the flu vaccine mandate, and Virginia just turned gerrymandering into an arms race. Then Paul sits down with retired Air Force Major General Sarah Zabel — a 31-year veteran, cyber and strategy leader, and independent candidate for Congress in Idaho's 1st District — for a no-BS briefing on what strategic incompetence actually costs the country. If you're in the angry middle and wondering whether an independent veteran can really win in a so-called red state, this one is the proof of concept.

Major General (Ret.) Sarah Zabel is a 31-year Air Force veteran and independent candidate for Congress in Idaho's 1st District. A graduate of the Air Force Academy with a computer science degree, she spent her career as a communications and cyber systems officer, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, and served in senior roles at the Air Staff, Joint Staff, U.S. Transportation Command, and as vice director of the Defense Information Systems Agency. She retired as a two-star in 2018, worked as an adjunct researcher for the RAND Corporation, cared for her father through Alzheimer's, and authored "Fighting Chance," a book on the science of depression.

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

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

-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.

Chaos in and Around Iran. Kash Patel’s Drinking. AI Job Losses - Tax the Bots? Andrew Yang. Apr 22, 2026

Show notes

Kamala Running Again is Madness. Labor Sec Chavez-DeRemer Resigns. Tim Cook Out Too. Dozens of Vets Arrested in Capitol. Tucker Done with Trump. Dua Lipa Steps Up.

Welcome to Independent Americans with Paul Rieckhoff, Episode 499—an all‑new, all‑gas, no‑brakes conversation with entrepreneur, anti‑poverty activist, Forward Party founder, candidate for President and NYC Mayor, and Noble Mobile CEO Andrew Yang. From Nas and Knicks heartbreak at Madison Square Garden to Mets misery at Citi Field, Paul and Andrew break down why basketball, baseball and hoops culture offer a positive, global vision of the America we could be—while Trump’s chaotic presidency, Iran war “mayhem,” and a broken two‑party system drag us backward. They talk New York fandom, James Dolan’s facial‑recognition surveillance, pricing regular people out of the Garden, and why the NBA is one of America’s best cultural exports right now.

Then they go deep on the issue Andrew warned America about years ago: AI. Paul presses Andrew for a blunt strategic assessment—“how fucked or not fucked are we?”—and Andrew lays out three core pillars: AI gutting jobs and super‑charging corporate profits, Washington’s utter failure to build real guardrails, and data centers quietly becoming the “new humans” as they devour power and water. They dig into AI in the nuclear kill chain, Anthropic’s internal moral fight, “tax the bots,” and why Dario Amodei says AI will wipe out half of white‑collar entry‑level jobs. Andrew also unveils Noble Mobile—his new effort with Scott Galloway to lower your phone bill and your screen time—and explains how the Forward Party, open primaries and a fast‑growing independent ecosystem can finally give Americans a real alternative to Trump’s MAGA GOP and an out‑of‑touch Democratic establishment

-WATCH full video of this episode here.

-Ditch your expensive carrier and support Independent Americans! Make the switch to Noble Mobile.

-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.

Connect with Independent Americans: