President Donald Trump's interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a "disaster," "detrimental to the country" and the strongest evidence yet that "the president (should) step down."

Those are the words of former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman, a Republican, who penned a blistering op-ed in the Los Angeles Times this weekend calling on fellow GOPers to put country over party and dump Trump.

"In this election year, opposing Trump is risky for GOP candidates," Whitman wrote. "Invoking the need to choose country over party is an overused trope. But it is essential now."

The piece was a reaction to Trump's refusal last week to publicly rebuke Putin for meddling in the 2016 presidential during a summit between the two. Trump and Putin "spent a great deal of time" discussing allegations of Russian election meddling as they met for several hours on July 16, the U.S. president said at a joint press conference in Finland that day.

But Trump did not strongly condemn the interference efforts, which U.S. intelligence agencies insist did occur, including the hacking of Democratic emails, the subject of the recent indictments of 12 Russians.

Trump said, as he had countless times, that there was "no collusion" between his campaign and the Russians. Putin, as always, denied all. The two leaders spoke at a joint news conference.

Whitman, a consistent Trump critic, said enough is enough. She called on Trump to resign in a tweet shortly after the summit.

Mr #President, you should be ashamed. To deny your own country and government in favor of a foriegn leader whose country has, for decades, tried to undermine the #UnitedStates is irrational and dangerous. Please step down, you are not fit to lead this great #nation. #TrumpPutin — Gov Christie Whitman (@GovCTW) July 16, 2018

But she wasn't done.

In the op-ed, Whitman said her fellow Republicans "have to end their willful ignorance of the damage Trump is doing both domestically and internationally. We must put aside the GOP label, as hard as that may be, and demonstrate the leadership our country needs by calling on the president to step down."

She called on the Republicans who control Congress to step up and enforce sanctions against the Russian president and to protect special counsel Robert Mueller, who's leading an investigation into links between Russian meddling in the 2016 election with members of Trump's then campaign.

"The Republican majority in Congress can fully implement promised sanctions against Russia to show its opposition to Russia's meddling in our election," Whitman wrote.

"Putin needs economic growth in Russia because it benefits the oligarchy," she said. "Tougher, tangible sanctions would weaken him and hurt those who benefit from his power."

Finally, she called Trump's overall interaction with Putin "deeply disturbing" and questioned whether the American people Trump has sworn to defend can trust their president.

Whitman wrote:

"Trumps' repeated public dismissals of the intelligence coming from his own deputies is deeply disturbing. Along with his walk back of statements last week, and then walking back the walk backs, it's impossible to keep up, and his behavior warrants a fresh evaluation of whether the president can be trusted with the future of the United States. His apologists will argue that the current outcry is just another attempt by moderates and "establishment" Republicans to discredit the president. But what does this man have to say or do for his supporters to finally see that his actions are detrimental to the country?"

Whitman was a two-term GOP governor in the Garden State from 1994 to 2001, when she stepped down to serve as the head of the EPA under former President George W. Bush.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.