I don’t think he thought it through that much. Your analysis is correct.... but at the end of the day Trump is like the guy who gets attacked on the street and keeps pounding the perp, even after the perp is knocked out cold... and keeps pounding the perp.... and keeps pounding the perp until someone comes along and pulls him off and holds him back. Certainly what the republican party needs at this point in time....
When it comes to Trump I think of Lincoln and Grant...”I know Grant is a drunkard, however, I cannot spare this man, he fights.” (loose paraphrase)
Donald sees it as not just an argument to be settled under Marquis of Queensbury rules. He knows it’s a matter of ego and pride. Yeah he is kind of egotistical and proud himself, but he also knows some decent point at which to curb it all. Anyhow that’s why he keeps it up. If we have to have an ego prevailing in the picture, at least let it be an ego that stands for most of the right things.
We can’t keep up that way forever, at some point humility before God has to enter the picture. But it is progress towards the right place compared with where we are now.