During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump famously invited Russia to hack his opponent’s email. He later claimed that it was just a joke. But when Donald Trump Jr. was told that Russia’s “crowd prosecutor” had dirt on Hillary Clinton, the younger Trump replied, “I love it,” and set up a meeting between the campaign leadership and Russian emissaries. Though nothing apparently came of this meeting, many have wondered why no one from the campaign reported Russia’s operations to Homeland Security.

Well, President Trump now runs Homeland Security. We should be wondering what he’ll do when Russia tries to get him reelected in 2020.

This is not a hypothetical question. U.S. intelligence agencies have publicly stated that Russia may conduct disinformation campaigns and “hack-and-leak operations” to interfere with future U.S. elections. A senior Homeland Security adviser who coordinates election cybersecurity likewise warned, “We continue to expect a pervasive messaging campaign by the Russians to undermine our democratic institutions.”

According to a bombshell New York Times report last week, former Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen was so worried about Russian interference that she tried to coordinate a high-priority governmentwide strategy to protect the 2020 elections. But the White House resisted, and her efforts failed. Chief of staff Mick Mulvaney reportedly told security officials that Russian interference “wasn’t a great subject and should be kept below [Trump’s] level.”

The Times casts White House intransigence as driven by Trump’s insecurity about the legitimacy of his 2016 election. That in itself is outrageous, but it’s not the real danger. What happens next year when the President is briefed about a new Russian plot to assist his campaign? We’ve already seen that he and his family were willing to accept Russian help in 2016. We’ve already seen Trump try to obfuscate Russian hacking by blaming the Chinese, the Democratic National Committee, and an imaginary 400-pound hacker. We’ve already seen him and his family belittle Russia’s attacks. We’ve even seen his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, claim, “There’s nothing wrong with taking information from Russians.”

So what happens in 2020 if Trump, down in the polls, learns that the Russians are trying to help him win? Consider that he, his family, and his company might even be facing criminal prosecution after he leaves office. Given the stakes, how far would he go to assure his reelection? It would not be necessary for the campaign to coordinate with Russia. As president, he could simply use his executive power to thwart Homeland Security’s counterintelligence response, allowing the Russians free rein to conduct their operation.

The real threat revealed by the Times' report is that the President of the United States may use his office to help a hostile foreign power subvert our democracy. Worse, it tells us that he is already doing so.