I generally agree with your assessment but there will probably be a few twists and turns. What worries me a little is that we are dealing with two narcissists and they could go beyond what is rational.
That's right. The traditional clinical psych question has always been whether crazy people are actually convinced of their delusions or do they somewhere keep 'two sets of books' that help in coping with reality. My (hopeful) guess is that these two megalomaniacs are fully aware that they're making choices that will impact on their own personal well-being.