When will the GOP put an end to Trump’s presidential recklessness?

Last night we found out that the president of the United States shared highly classified information with one of our most dangerous global adversaries, which by all accounts committed an act of war during the 2016 presidential election by hacking into the servers of political institutions and releasing damaging emails.

But alas, another day, another mind-numbingly idiotic bumbling act by the White House. But this time, the dots of just how dangerous the president’s actions were can be connected to putting American lives in danger.

{mosads}Will this be the straw that breaks Republicans’ backs? Will the GOP now rise up and say enough is enough? Will they at least call for an independent special prosecutor to lead the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia? (And did we just witness the result of that collusion?)

National security experts from all sides of the political spectrum spared no time in pointing out just how unbelievable this action by the president was, and just how much he had endangered our national security overall, our relationship with our allies and the information-sharing apparatus that had been meticulously nurtured through the years. Most concerning, he endangered the lives of those who gather this information in very dangerous situations.

#Lavrov – @realDonaldTrump meeting has just started | В Овальном кабинете началась встреча С.Лаврова с Д.Трампом#RussiaUSA #РоссияСША pic.twitter.com/7raFrkWhiC

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) May 10, 2017

At first, the White House tried to deny the reporting on this jaw-dropping development, sending out the national security adviser to deny the story, saying, “I was in the room; it didn’t happen.” Things of course were reversed overnight, when President Trump tweeted that, yes, he had done it, and there is nothing anyone could about it.

Later in the day, Gen. H.R. McMaster was sent out again before the national press corps to try to do some urgent clean-up and damage control, only to twist in the wind, stating that what the president did was “wholly appropriate” and that he has the complete authority to “unclassify” and share anything he deems necessary to keep the American people safe.

McMaster also went on to underscore just how little Trump knows or wants to know about the national security information he receives. He said the president may not have known or understood where the source of the classified material came from. And we can surmise that he didn’t ask. 

God help us all.

#BREAKING: McMaster: Trump wasn’t aware of source of info he shared with Russians https://t.co/xF4DwJrnud pic.twitter.com/FrZVzIKOjb

— The Hill (@thehill) May 16, 2017

Even those of us who never supported Donald Trump are surprised at the height of this absurdity. The incompetence and ineptitude consistently exhibited by the Trump White House are of unfathomable measure.

But more concerning and dangerous is the disdain with which Trump treats issues of this magnitude, that are about nothing less than life and death situations for our operatives overseas.

Let’s be very clear. Donald Trump was doing nothing more than showing off in front of the Russian ambassador — a known spy and spy recruiter — and the Russian foreign minister so they could go off and report to their strongman, Vladimir Putin, just how much “cool intel” Trump had, and how “in the know” he was about intricate, complicated world affairs.

What we can infer from the keen reporting on the meeting was that Trump was acting out his favorite role of “Quien es mas macho” and bragging to the Russians about the great information he has access to.

We have an insecure bully, who wakes up every morning worried that people do not see him as a legitimate president, worthy of the office he occupies, holding private meetings with world leaders. Under normal circumstances, this insecurity would lead most public servants to put their heads down, study hard, be humble about what they don’t know, seek out greater knowledge, and really learn their new trade.

But simply put, Donald Trump does not care. He is not a public servant. He got into this election not to serve the greater good, not to serve the American people, but to service his massive ego.

And we are now seeing the consequences of it.

Republicans need to wake up to this horrid mess of a nightmare they have helped create.

It is telling that no Republicans have come out to strongly defend Trump in the face of his latest and dangerous debacle — they know it has drastic national security consequences. And many of them are on the record (I’m talking to you, Speaker Paul Ryan) saying that anyone who is careless with classified information should cease to have access to such information.

Individuals who are “extremely careless” with classified information should be denied further access to such info. pic.twitter.com/0C76Ae95LD

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) July 7, 2016

But the reaction has been limp at best. The time has passed for simple political calculations that result in emboldening and enabling a dangerous president. History will relegate these GOP leaders to nothing more than hypocritical political eunuchs who were deemed ineffective and unworthy of the public trust, interested only in self-preservation at the expense of their country. 

Can you imagine if Hillary Clinton had done anything close to what Trump did if she had been elected and Republicans still controlled Congress? They’ve gone nuts over a lot less. I guarantee you that had she done half the things Trump has done up to now, calls for her impeachment would be deafening.

To the Trump supporters who voted for this con man thinking he had your back, my heart goes out to you, because he does not. He never did. And he never will. He has his back and his family’s back. And they are enriching themselves more and more by the minute by monetizing and exploiting the presidency, day by day.

The Trump presidency has been a huge boon for the Trump family, and Trump will continue exploiting it seemingly at the expense of American lives, the relationship with our allies, and our safety here at home.

He played his supporters and they are all paying for it. We are all paying for it. We will continue to pay for it until Republicans in Congress get a backbone, grow some cojones, and realize the future of the Republic is in their hands.

Maria Cardona is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a Democratic strategist and a CNN/CNN Español political commentator. Follower her on Twitter@MariaTCardona.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.