I'm not sure he actually does anything you could call thinking. Thinking bores him. He likes to act.
[Sorry, long post]
Oh he does - the grift is quite creative.
I literally think that is what he does all day (night) with some suggestion and assistance. He's bereft of policy and always has been. He doesn't know and is not interested in how to govern. He has deployed sycophants into every position and allowed people like Russel Vought, Miller et al in to his circle because it's part of the deal; the cover up, the grift.
Miller is cashing in on deportations (it's not actually about 'illegals' the whole mantra is a lever), Vought is one of the principal architects of Project 2025: an insidious fascist manuscript it isn't, it is a sophisticated extension of the right wing ethic that everything is on the verge of imminent collapse and we need to do something quick or drastic... which translates to corporate take over of public services.
Prime example, successive right and religious leaning states reduce funding for schools year on year (because they don't place the bible at the forefront of teaching) and then say that the school system is failing and then privatise the running of the schools where these corporations cash in. Carolina (IIRC) for example but the standards in education have actually dropped further since private organisations took over management.
I've made the conclusion that the right wing propaganda is simply a lever to wrestle control of democracy and administration out of the hands of govt. and into the hands of the corporation.
To this, Trump is the public front of deflection and distraction and ultimately, Trump 2.0 is a money making racket for him and his 'friends' and power over some very dark crimes. It is plainly obvious now that the low filter man has almost no filter, what his real feelings are - he doesn't care about the the American people (he even said that when it came to the Iran conflict), he doesn't care about 'affordability', again, straight out of his mouth, he doesn't care about the welfare of the people on the USS A Lincoln - he has publicly dismissed concerns.
You have to think that if you were facing being prosecuted for rape and murder on a global stage what you would do to avoid that if you had no moral base. He said at the end of Trump 1.0 "I left cash on the table". Put the two together and then you understand why he's there. I'm not sure why people keep dissecting his actions as if they are based on policy or strategy. The heads of certain corporations (actual, created or even contrived) are patting him on the back and feeding his ego.
Rome collapsed over decades, the USA might collapse overnight.