Elizabeth Graham, an authority on the Trump-Putin relationship, asserts that Russia has tremendous influence over US elections, a threat that many Americans overlook. Her articles have reached 11.7 million readers worldwide, and she writes a popular Substack on democracy, Russia, and US politics. Graham's unique background includes a father with CIA Top-Secret clearance and over twenty years of experience in strategic cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev. She worked as a consultant to USAID, was smuggled into Afghanistan under Taliban rule, and brought poverty alleviation programs to Rwanda and women's empowerment to Bosnia.
Graham became bi-cultural, meeting with President Yeltsin, Mayor Sobchuk, and Vice Mayor Putin in St. Petersburg, as well as former President Gorbachev. She witnessed the downfall of the USSR, the chaos of the early Yeltsin years, and the covert ascent of the KGB/FSB, leading to Putin's control. She was invited to join the KGB at least five times, told that her ability to speak Russian and enter the US Embassy would benefit Russia. Graham also endured the homicide of her oldest daughter, a death ruled by Tokyo Police as caused by an unknown substance, possibly poison, a signature method of Russian operatives.
Graham argues that Ukraine and the United States are fighting the same foe: one faces open war, the other a long-term strategic takeover. She sees Trump remaking the US government to mirror the Kremlin, with its gaudy gold trappings. Many Americans are distracted by Trump's sensationalism and tariff obsessions, missing the grave threat. Graham cites Putin's plan, published in 1997 as The Foundations of Geopolitics, to undermine the US by placing a manipulable man in the presidency and infiltrating the country with Russian Organized Crime to disrupt American lives.
In recent months, Putin's influence over Trump has become apparent: the US stopped supporting Ukraine, the war in Iran benefited China and Russia at a cost of $2 billion per day, and the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro served Putin's interests. The withdrawal of US troops from Germany, Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan weakened American military power, and NATO's fracture advances Putin's objectives. The shutdown of USAID, which Graham worked with, could cause 22 million preventable deaths in Africa by 2030, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This alone could rank Trump among history's most ruthless mass killers.
Graham warns that Trump is committing treason, weakening democracy, and alienating allies. She points to Capital One closing roughly 300 bank accounts linked to Trump's businesses due to an anti-money laundering review. Trump, convicted of fraud and 34 felony counts, is again using the federal government to illegally change election rules. Without intervention, America may hold its last free election in November 2026.
