This sounds exactly what Scott Adams said of President Trump back in 2016. Presdident Trump will come off with bold and grandiose plans and ideas, and eventually walk it back to something sensible. But what it does, it gets people talking about the idea - the pros and cons, the feasability and such. That is how he controls the conversation.
You're exactly right. State a proposal that starts out as way more than you actually want, and then work to a middle ground that you and the other negotiator can both live with. It's called "The Art of the Deal," That's what he has always done, he literally wrote the book. I can't understand some of the knee-jerk reactions on this thread.
The other thing, he never gives up. Does anyone know anyone who would, or could, have gone through the xhit he’s been through some 2015?