Pete Hegseth is on thin ice, and the reason should worry every American with a family member in uniform. U.S. commanders are reportedly picking and choosing which Iranian missiles to intercept and which to let fall. Our stockpiles of Tomahawks, ATACMS, and Patriots are draining. Ukraine's civilians are dying for lack of munitions. And the response from the White House is to hunt down leakers, blame subordinates, and ask Congress for another $67 billion — roughly $20 billion of it for weapons the administration should have planned for in the first place. This is what happens when leadership refuses to take responsibility and gets way ahead of its skis.
At the same time, the Trump family is cashing in on Defense Department contracts while the commander in chief ramps up warfare around the world and pushes a $1.5 trillion defense number. It may not be illegal. It is deeply, deeply wrong — and it is exactly the kind of grift that unites independents, moderate Republicans, and anyone who still cares about basic ethics. Paul breaks down Elizabeth Warren's "gelatinous blobs" broadside at spineless Senate Republicans, the small cracks opening around Cornyn and Tillis, the widening MAGA civil war between Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and the establishment, and where a wandering Tulsi Gabbard might land next. If you want to know where the off-ramps and pressure points are heading into 2026, this is the map.
In this episode
- Why Hegseth hunting leakers is a tell that the underpinning of what they leaked is true
- Commanders reportedly choosing which Iranian missiles to intercept — and what that means for troops and their families
- The $67 billion supplemental ask, $20 billion in munitions, and a $1.5 trillion year-end defense number
- Ukraine getting pummeled while U.S. stockpiles of Tomahawks, ATACMS, and Patriots run low
- Elizabeth Warren's "gelatinous blobs" line and why Senate Republicans keep getting run over
- Cornyn, Tillis, and the small GOP cracks worth watching on the weaponization fund
- The Trump family getting rich off Defense contracts while Americans die in the wars their father is escalating
- Why Democrats have been slow to hammer the corruption angle with independents and moderate Republicans
- The MAGA civil war: Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and a potential 2028 run
- The Tulsi Gabbard question — and where defectors from Trump might find a landing place
