It looks like such fears were well-founded: During a White House meeting with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister last week, President Trump shared highly classified information that was given to the United States by a key US ally - who did not give our government permission to share it with Putin's regime - according to reports from the Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, and the New York Times.
Lawmakers expressed shock and concern Monday night at the news of Trump's disclosures, which jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State, according to current and former US officials.
McMaster, in a White House briefing, said: "In the context of that discussion, what the president discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom he is engaged".
Trump's tweets Tuesday morning indicated that he did share some information with his Russian visitors.
The Associated Press cited a senior European intelligence official telling them that they may stop sharing info with the US if Trump disclosed classified intel to the Russians as it "could be a risk for our sources".
"Until the administration fully explains the facts of this case, the American people will rightly doubt if their president can handle our nation's most closely kept secrets", Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor.
"As President I wanted to share with Russian Federation (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety", Trump said on Twitter.
McMaster said Trump could not have endangered national security because he did not even know the source of the information he discussed.
Though an angry White House official told CNN they felt "tricked" by the Russians, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said "proper protocol was followed" by not allowing media into the meeting.
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Later on May 16, McMaster appeared to embrace Trump's stance, repeatedly emphasizing at a White House briefing Trump's conduct was "wholly appropriate". He said he had a "very, very successful meeting" with the Russian foreign minister earlier this month, and the US wants to get as much help as possible in the fight against terrorism.
The requests for more information portend a hard week for the White House on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are seeking to maintain focus on their legislative agenda, including the negotiation of a Senate health-care bill.
"I'm concerned about the fact that the President feels like he has to give something to Russian Federation first when there have been repeated instances of Russian Federation being sanctioned in Ukraine, committing war crimes in Syria and conducting operations that are contrary to what we'd like to believe are freedom of operations and sovereignties of different nations", he said Tuesday on CNN's "New Day". "I think national security is put at risk by this leak and leaks like this".
White House aides have neither confirmed nor denied the possibility that Trump records his conversations at the White House.
The intelligence released by Trump came from Israel, the New York Times writes. Such sharing "could be a risk for our sources", the official said.
Several members of the GOP suggested that transcripts of Trump's meeting with Russian officials ought to be revealed to lawmakers, if they exist.
On the House side, CIA Director Mike Pompeo is expected to brief that chamber's intelligence committee on Tuesday on Trump's apparent leaking. His criticism has been followed by a steady stream of leaks to the media that have been damaging to Trump and exposed an FBI investigation into his associates' possible ties to Russian Federation.
"The administration should promptly share with Congress, in a classified setting, the precise details of the president's meeting", Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., a libertarian-leaning iconoclast who frequently breaks with his party, wrote Tuesday on Twitter.
The controversy engulfed the White House.
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