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This latest incident again shows that Trump remains ill-prepared for office.
We’ve said it before, and today we’ll say it again — and probably again, whether tomorrow or the next day or the day after: The man who occupies the White House is ill-prepared, ill-informed and, yes, a danger to the Republic. Donald Trump’s braggadocious revelation of highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador is merely the latest outrageous episode — as of this writing, we hasten to add — that underscores the man’s breathtaking incompetence.
So, as the Washington Post and later the New York Times reported, here’s a jovial Trump in the Oval Office with two men who have no business even being there — on the day after he’s fired FBI Director James Comey for investigating whether his presidential campaign might have colluded with Russia — and he’s blathering about what “great intel” he gets. In the course of the conversation, he spills highly classified information about an Islamic State terrorist plot, information that U.S. officials apparently obtained from a foreign ally, reportedly Israel. He thereby imperils our intelligence relationship with that vital ally, reveals a secret intelligence asset to a foreign adversary and endangers lives. What a time for a new president to be embarking on his first overseas trip.
About the only thing positive to say about Trump’s intemperate disclosure is that it hastens the day when responsible White House officials, Republican lawmakers and even die-hard Trump supporters must face up to the hard truth that the man we elected president is manifestly unfit for the job. From a chief executive lacking both elemental decency and minimal competence, there’s little surprising about the “downward spiral,” to use the words of Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican. Corker hopes for recovery; serial misconduct for as long as Trump occupies the office is more likely.
However dire the situation may get, the drastic solutions available — either impeachment or a forced resignation as laid out in the 25th Amendment — are not viable, for now. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and their GOP cohorts are nowhere near sending Trump into Mar-a-Lago exile. He’s still a vital asset in their efforts to secure massive tax cuts for the rich, reduced entitlements for the poor and the deconstruction of affordable health care. And yet even McConnell and Ryan can’t ignore his disturbing impulsivity and dismaying policy ignorance.
We call for a quarantine of sorts. Competent members of the Trump administration, whoever they may be, need to do everything within their power to make sure that the president’s rants, tweets and ill-informed policy prescriptions dissipate like morning clouds on a summer day. Allow him his Oval Office rants — and then ignore him. And if that’s not possible, resign. One outrage after another should be reminder enough for GOP lawmakers that they need to stand up for truth, for justice, for the American way. ( Just because the phrase comes from an iconic superhero doesn’t make it any less inspiriting.) We understand that, for now, it’s the agenda uber alles, but the Republican majority must refocus on a more pressing concern. Regardless of whether they are able to break with their president, congressional Republicans at the very least must acknowledge the need for a thorough and aggressive investigation into Trump’s Russia connections, wherever that investigation may lead.
Can we expect any less from our own John Cornyn, who called last year for a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton’s misuse of a private email server? Can we expect any less from Michael McCaul, the Texan who heads the House Committee on Homeland Security? Isn’t a reckless and irresponsible president a danger to the homeland?
Cornyn, McCaul, Ted Cruz and their GOP colleagues are approaching a date with destiny, a moment not unlike what their Watergate-era predecessors experienced. We — and they — may soon find out whether the people’s elected representatives are mere party apparatchiks or true American patriots.
One outrage after another should be reminder enough for GOP lawmakers that they need to stand up for truth, for justice, for the American way.