I think, to a certain degree, this is trump doing yet another litmus test to see if his base actually stands for anything other than doing as they’re told by their godking. Like it could have been this or any of 100 other scandals that have already taken place. He doesn’t care bc he knows no matter what he does it won’t jeopardize his chances at a 3rd term, and the Dax army will be out in force to defend and run cover until it blows over. and at this point I think he’s just asking himself “do these idiots actually believe in anything or can I just tell them exactly how to think and feel about stuff and they will faithfully abide?”