President-elect Donald Trump is already undermining U.S. national security. From denying Russian meddling in the U.S. election to placing at risk the stability of U.S.-China relations to refusing to fully rid himself of his own conflicts of interest around the world, Donald Trump is making decisions that will endanger the country he is supposed to lead. And he's not even president yet.

Trump is making clear his disregard for the integrity of the system that he was elected to defend. Even before this year's election results were known, the U.S. government made clear that Russia was attempting to interfere in the election. With the CIA's recent conclusion that Russia not only meddled in the election but also might have attempted to tip the scales in favor of Trump, leaders from both parties are coming together to call for an immediate investigation into reports of foreign intervention that "should alarm every American."

And yet, the response of Trump's team to these reports has been to lash out at the career U.S. intelligence professionals working hard every day to keep Americans safe. In a statement released after the CIA's assessment became public, Trump's transition team attempted to delegitimize the agency's findings by stating, "these are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction."

Throughout his campaign, Trump made clear his affinity for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and even publicly asked Russia to hack Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email. Meanwhile, Trump advisers have gone so far as to accuse the Obama administration of faking the report of Russian interference. Trump himself has dismissed the reports, calling them "ridiculous." By not joining – and leading, as he should be – the calls for an investigation into this unprecedented interference in a U.S. election by a foreign government, Trump is in effect taking Russia's side against protecting the very Constitution that he will be sworn to defend.

At the same time, although Trump does not yet conduct foreign policy on behalf of the United States, he has already begun to unravel four decades of U.S.-China relations and could throw Asia into turmoil. By talking with the president of Taiwan and then making clear in a Fox News interview that he does not subscribe to the deal struck with China decades ago over how to approach Taiwan, Trump is opening the entire U.S.-China relationship to negotiation. The deal on Taiwan may not be fair, but it has benefited everyone involved – including Taiwan, which since the 1970s has boomed economically and built a strong democracy.

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Now, Trump is playing with fire. There is no upside for the United States right now in reopening the Taiwan issue, and Trump is seeking leverage with China in the wrong place. From North Korea to the East and South China Seas, trade relations to cybersecurity, China has significant leverage with the United States as well. There are many far more effective policy approaches for the U.S. to pursue to push China to change its behavior in these areas of concern. Moreover, China treats Taiwan as a so-called core interest, seeing it as a matter of sovereignty, and it is unlikely to take Trump's actions lightly.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this delicate issue so far is Trump's clear lack of understanding of what he was doing. His immediate reaction to critics of his taking the call from Taiwanese President Tsai-ing Wen was to claim he was merely taking a congratulatory call, rather than defending it as a supposedly strategic decision, which is how he and his advisers have attempted to portray the call in the days since. The consequences of opening this Pandora's box in Asia could destabilize the entire region.

Finally, Trump may not yet have any formal decision-making power for the U.S. government, but the decisions he makes are already under a cloud of controversy because of his businesses and potential conflicts of interest. A wide range of ethics groups have publicly encouraged Trump to sell his assets and place them in a blind trust in order to protect the integrity of the American government. Trump's business interests around the world would pose a never-ending series of conflicts of interests in his decision-making as president. No one will know whether Trump and his administration officials are prioritizing the interests of the American people or the interests of the Trump Organization.

The danger here is as serious as it is unthinkable. Not only will every foreign policy decision be compromised, but also the very foundations of the U.S. government and its ability to conduct foreign and national security policy will come into question. Countries around the world will not only wonder if U.S. decision-making is up for sale; they also will lose faith in the integrity of the American system.

We have entered uncharted waters. The U.S. president-elect has sided with Russia over his own intelligence agencies; he has endangered 40 years of stability in U.S.-China relations; and he is undermining the very integrity of the government he intends to lead.