American Overthrow

Description

The maelstrom following Donald Trump’s 2025 return to the US presidency left many bemused and disoriented. But for Russia-watchers, what unfolded was grimly familiar. So many of the Trump administration’s destructive actions have precisely aligned with the Kremlin’s own objectives; and to a startling extent, Trump’s America is beginning to mimic Russia itself.

Abroad, Trump has demanded the annexation of neighbours, and embraced war crimes in Iran and the Caribbean. At home, the war on truth and history, purges and the weaponisation of justice, the deployment of masked federal paramilitaries to the streets of major cities and more all mirror Putin’s own consolidation of power. Dismantling obstacles to Russia’s ambitions, whether they threaten Europe or America itself, is a defining feature of Trump’s second presidency. Determination to force Ukraine’s surrender to Russia is just the clearest example among many.

Keir Giles examines America’s transformation through the prism of Kremlinology. What he reveals should alarm us all.

Reviews

‘Keir Giles draws direct parallels between the Trump oligarchy’s consolidation of power in the United States and Vladimir Putin’s rule in Russia. This is not a bizarre or far-fetched comparison, and it should make readers of all political persuasions think twice about American politics.’ — Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc

‘Giles highlights Kremlin method in Trump’s madness … a must-read for Americans fearful of their country’s descent into capricious self-destruction, for allies whose own security is so recklessly endangered by the collapse, and for all observers of Russia’s formidably patient and resourceful strategic culture.’ — Edward Lucas, former senior editor, The Economist

‘By assembling the scattered scandals of the Trump era into a single, coherent and chilling whole, Giles does what the daily flood of headlines cannot: he shows how Trump doesn’t merely emulate Russia but often outdoes it … The picture that emerges—a fractured Europe, a hobbled NATO, a White House at war with its own intelligence agencies—amounts to dividends beyond Putin’s wildest dreams. This is a rare book.’ — Craig Unger, author of House of Trump, House of Putin and American Kompromat

‘Keir Giles has applied his deep knowledge of Russia’s subversion and political warfare programmes to provide a live case study of their use against the United States. The result should be a wake-up call for all democracies that may underestimate the threat they face from Russian covert warfare.’ — Deborah Haynes, Security and Defence Editor, Sky News

‘As Keir Giles makes abundantly clear in this expertly written and insightful book, Donald Trump’s political template is Vladimir Putin’s. In following Putin’s lead, Trump has destroyed global trust in the United States and undermined its power. American Overthrow is Moscow inspired but Washington made.’ — Fiona Hill, former deputy assistant to the president, US National Security Council (2017–19)

‘Keir Giles applies his knowledge of Russian subversion and covert influence to today’s United States, and the results are devastating. A meticulous forensic examination of how the Trump administration’s objectives precisely match those of the Kremlin.’ — Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Former President of Estonia

‘Powerful … authoritative, disturbing and essential, this is a book not only about Russia’s war on the West, but about America’s struggle to recognise and resist the forces pulling it toward the very model it once stood against.’ — John Sipher, Former Senior CIA Officer

‘Giles is one of our clearest thinkers on Russia. Now, he focuses his starkly realist lens on Donald Trump’s America and its current transformation which, he maintains, bears a frightening resemblance to Putin’s Russia … This deeply researched book seems disturbingly prescient.’ — Jill Dougherty, Former Moscow Bureau Chief, CNN, author of My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin

‘Keir Giles spent years documenting how Russia really works. American Overthrow is the unnerving account of that same playbook now running in Washington. Carefully evidenced and impossible to look away from.’ — Eliot Higgins, founder, Bellingcat

‘Speaks much needed home-truths … At a time when too many try to sugar-coat the pill on this, Giles does not hold back, but forensically dissects what the US has become and where it might be going. An important and sobering read.’ — Phillips O’Brien, Professor of Strategic Studies, University of St Andrews

‘At first glance, this book is preposterous. How could even this US administration do the Kremlin’s bidding and ape its tactics so precisely? But then you read it, and can find absolutely no chink in the armour of evidence. The only possible conclusion is that your worst fears are true… and then some. It’s not preposterous, it’s explosive.’ — James Nixey, former director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House

‘This brilliantly argued hand grenade of a book should explode with full force upon Americans, including Trumpists, who need to grasp the full extent of the Trump administration’s threats to democracy, the rule of law, and American national security interests. It should be required reading for all concerned Americans.’ — Stephen Blank, former professor, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College

Author(s)

Keir Giles has advised governments worldwide on the Russian threat. A former senior fellow with Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, he regularly comments for the BBC and international media. His prescient books include Who Will Defend Europe? (also published by Hurst), a Financial Times Politics Book of the Year.