am with wzambon here...complexity is the enemy to dissecting trump.
in the end, unless it's a barrier to the NEXT grift, he doesnt care much for any of this.
which is why the sale of his 2028 potus endorsement is probably near highest priority...he would imagine that his endorsement itself would be the single most critical factor in preventing wide Dem wins and subsequent grief. true or not, he cashes in.

this doesnt mean trump is unwilling to posture for publicity and MAGA\gop entertainment.
i suspect he would like the voters to just BELIEVE gas is not that high and\or it will be down bigly.
but unless one can draw a direct line to incoming grift, trump 99% doesnt really care if it does go down, belief is always enough.
(just ask MAGA on the affordability of everything else...it's great since biden!)

and no, bribing trump doesnt always payoff. that's the beauty of MAGA's fav biz model. big oil should consider themselves lucky, as anyone else pre-paying.