Trump floated the idea that Ukraine needs a new president because Zelensky keeps hitting Russian oil refineries and that’s driving fuel prices up. Paul Rieckhoff flips the frame: Ukraine doesn’t need a new president — America does. From a creek in the Catskills, with his boys skipping rocks in the background, Paul lays out why the most important story in the world is still that Donald Trump commands the most powerful military ever built and nothing — not the courts, not the Democrats, not even a Congressional majority — is currently positioned to stop him. This is a solo episode, raw and unvarnished, built for the stretch of political dread between now and the next election.
Paul walks through the hard math of 2026: even if Democrats take the House, even if they impeach Hegseth, even if they deny the $1.5 trillion budget request, the forever wars keep going — because Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump all proved they do. He makes the case for a failure-of-imagination warning (Venezuela, Iran, Cuba are all on the board), calls out Gavin Newsom invoking the 25th Amendment, and challenges both parties to say out loud what they’ll actually do if they win power. Then he closes with something good: Emerson, public lands, indigenous history, and the reminder that a change of latitude really can change your attitude. Mental health check included.
In this episode
- Why Trump saying “Ukraine needs a new president” is really about oil prices and his own ego
- The core thesis: America needs a new president, and the urgency has never been higher
- Why even a Democratic House, Senate, or impeachment of Hegseth won’t stop the war
- The forever war pattern — Bush, Obama, Biden, Trump — and why presidents keep lying about ending them
- “Failure of imagination” warning: Venezuela, Iran, Cuba are all live options in the next few weeks
- Gavin Newsom calling for the 25th Amendment after Trump’s San Diego and LA comments
- The call for Republicans or Democrats to say out loud they’ll impeach if they win power
- A mental health check-in heading into darker, colder, nastier weeks before the election
- Shout-outs to independent veteran candidates — Bodnar, Achilles, Bengs, Osborn — pushing the movement forward
- Something good: Emerson, the Catskills, public lands, and honoring indigenous peoples
