Elizabeth Graham, a former consultant to USAID and an expert on the Trump-Putin relationship, is sounding the alarm about Russia's influence on the United States. In a recent statement, Graham emphasized that Russia has tremendous influence over US elections and that the country is facing a long-term strategic takeover by Moscow.
Graham, who has written extensively on democracy, Russia, and US politics, points to Vladimir Putin's detailed plan to undermine the United States, as outlined in 'The Foundations of Geopolitics' published in 1997. That plan includes placing a manipulable man in the presidency and infiltrating the country with Russian Organized Crime to disrupt American lives.
According to Graham, the past eighteen months have shown increasingly apparent signs of Putin's influence over President Trump. The US has stopped supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression, the war in Iran has benefited China and Russia at a cost of $2 billion per day to US taxpayers, and the withdrawal of US troops from several countries has weakened American military power. Additionally, NATO's fracture advances a long-standing Putin objective, and the shutdown of USAID could cause approximately 22 million preventable deaths in Africa by 2030, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Graham, who has met with Russian leaders including Yeltsin and Putin, says that many Americans fail to see that Trump is committing treason and that Russia wants him in the White House because he is weakening democracy. She points to Trump's ties to Russian interests through money and business deals, noting that Capital One closed roughly 300 bank accounts linked to Trump's businesses due to an internal anti-money laundering review.
Graham also highlights Trump's efforts to illegally change election rules in his favor, as he did in 2020. She warns that without intervention, the US may hold its last free election in November 2026. Her comments come as Trump continues to declassify FBI communications, which she says are attempts to cover up his relationship with Russians.
Elizabeth Graham's expertise stems from over twenty years of work in strategic cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev, where she witnessed the downfall of the USSR and the rise of Putin. Her unique perspective underscores the gravity of the current situation, urging Americans to recognize the threat to their democracy.
