{"id":6384,"date":"2026-10-18T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/spray-and-pray-trumps-chaos-strategy-from-cuba-to-iran-to-ukraine-hegseths-culture-war-bender-mike-johnson-pumps-the-brakes-media-blitz-pod\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T09:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:45:00","slug":"spray-and-pray-trumps-chaos-strategy-from-cuba-to-iran-to-ukraine-hegseths-culture-war-bender-mike-johnson-pumps-the-brakes-media-blitz-pod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/spray-and-pray-trumps-chaos-strategy-from-cuba-to-iran-to-ukraine-hegseths-culture-war-bender-mike-johnson-pumps-the-brakes-media-blitz-pod\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSpray and pray\u201d Trump\u2019s chaos strategy from Cuba to Iran to Ukraine. Hegseth\u2019s culture war bender. Mike Johnson pumps the brakes. Media Blitz Pod"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=\" width=\"100%\" height=\"210\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span>Paul Rieckhoff hits the news circuit for a rapid-fire breakdown of a week where the wheels came off the Trump foreign policy machine. Elon Musk throttled Starlink in the middle of Russia&#8217;s winter bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians \u2014 and Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it what it is: participating in mass murder. Putin keeps pumping the pedal down. Zelensky gets a hero&#8217;s welcome in London while America looks like the bad guy. And one tech billionaire is now the linchpin of a sovereign nation&#8217;s defense, which is exactly the privatized national security nightmare we warned about.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>From there Paul widens the aperture to the midterms, where 45% of the electorate now refuses to wear a jersey. Independent veterans like Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Seth Bodnar in Montana are surging because voters are done with the rigged two-party system. Rahm Emanuel says Romney Republicans are up for grabs. The generic ballot has independents leaning Democratic by 10 points. And Paul lands the argument nobody in DC is making out loud: end the Iran war, gas prices come down, Trump&#8217;s poll numbers move. Everything else is spray and pray.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-WATCH <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/EdNXlE6glK8\"><span>full video of this episode here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Track the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentveteransofamerica.org\/polls\/\"><span>IVA candidates on our poll tracker<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Let Vets Vote: Millions of American veterans are being locked out of primary elections in the country they served. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/letvetsvote.org\/\"><span>See what we\u2019re doing to change that<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Visit <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/kalshi.com\/r\/INDEPENDENT\"><span>Kalshi and trade on anything<\/span><\/a><span>. Use code INDEPENDENT to get $25 when you trade $25.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Head to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/cozyearth.com\"><span>cozyearth.com<\/span><\/a><span> and use the code AMERICANS for an exclusive 20% off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Join <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/noblemobile.com\/paul\"><span>Noble Mobile today and get a $100 bonus<\/span><\/a><span> when you use code PAUL and stay a member for 2 months!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransforukraine.org\/\"><span>American Veterans for Ukraine here<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>-Learn more about<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/theheadstrongproject.org\/\"><span> The Headstrong Project <\/span><\/a><span>for Veterans, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.taps.org\/\"><span>Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/health-care\/health-needs-conditions\/mental-health\/\"><span>Department of Veterans Affairs resources in your area<\/span><\/a><span>. Seeking support is not a sign of weakness. It\u2019s a show of strength. <\/span><span>If you or a loved one are in immediate crisis, dial 988 and press 1, or text 838255.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Connect with Independent Americans:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Subscribe on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@independentamericans\"><span>YouTube<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0F1lzdRbTB0XYen8kyEqXe\"><span>Spotify<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/id1457899667\"><span>Apple Podcasts<\/span><\/a><span>, and all podcast platforms<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Read more at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.substack.com\"> <span>Substack<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>Support ad-free episodes at<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\"> <span>Patreon<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>Connect: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0 \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/indy_americans\"><span>X\/Twitter<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/indyamericans.bsky.social\"><span>BlueSky<\/span><\/a><span> \u2022 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IndependentAmericansUS\/\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>Follow on social: @PaulRieckhoff on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PaulRieckhoff\"><span>X<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/paulrieckhoff\/\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span>, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.threads.com\/@paulrieckhoff\"><span>Threads<\/span><\/a><span>, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/rieckhoff.bsky.social\"><span>Bluesky<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/independentamericans\/posts\"><span>Join the movement. Hook into our exclusive Patreon community<\/span><\/a><span> 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8211;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/independentamericans.us\/merch\/\"><span>And get cool IA and Righteous hats, t-shirts and other merch<\/span><\/a><span> now in time for the new year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Independent Americans is powered by veteran-owned and led <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/righteous.us\/\"><span>Righteous Media<\/span><\/a><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And now part of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bleav.com\/shows\/independent-americans-with-paul-rieckhoff\/\"><span>the BLEAV network<\/span><\/a><span>!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href=\"https:\/\/pcm.adswizz.com\">pcm.adswizz.com<\/a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul Rieckhoff hits the news circuit for a rapid-fire breakdown of a week where the wheels came off the Trump foreign policy machine. Elon Musk throttled Starlink in the middle of Russia&#8217;s winter bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians \u2014 and Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it what it is: participating in mass murder. Putin keeps pumping the pedal down. Zelensky gets a hero&#8217;s welcome in London while America looks like the bad guy. And one tech billionaire is now the linchpin of a sovereign nation&#8217;s defense, which is exactly the privatized national security nightmare we warned about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-episodes","entry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square-1024x1024.jpg",750,750,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/ep651-square.jpg",1400,1400,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/author\/admin\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/category\/episodes\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Episodes<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Paul Rieckhoff hits the news circuit for a rapid-fire breakdown of a week where the wheels came off the Trump foreign policy machine. Elon Musk throttled Starlink in the middle of Russia's winter bombing campaign against Ukrainian civilians \u2014 and Republican Senator Thom Tillis called it what it is: participating in mass murder. Putin keeps&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.righteous-media.com\/IndependentAmericans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}