Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
With the press there is no "off the record.
I am going to leave the future of Europe to the Europeans.
The success of an organization will depend on the people you surround yourself with.
See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented.
When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.