He knew he wasn’t going to go through with the deal from the get go. He had many conservatives salivating that he was going to set things right and he got massive publicity, which was the real goal all along.
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This is like an echo straight out of “Atlas Shrugged”, where Francisco d’Anconia destroys his own company by appearing to play into the hands of the looters who will eventually nationalize his mines. After leaking information that causes the stock in his mining company to rise, sucking in more looters, it is discovered, once it is nationalized, that the mining company is a shell of its former self. The stock of course crashes destroying the fortunes of the looters.
I absolutely love that book.