1 Again, people hear Trump's words, but do not hear what he is saying. He does not start bargaining by demanding the $ 50 that he actually expects to get, he starts by demanding $100 and working his way down to the figure he will accept. People hear the opening bid of $ 100 and claim he is insane.

2 Agreed Bill which is why I said "I hope he's not serious" because I think this may well be a bargaining point.

I've not tead Trump's book but I've read snippets and this is right in line with a Trump negotiating tactic.

Problem is Trump may have to back out if his bluff is called, and that could be very tricky. Certainly a lot of countries would want us to do this; our enemies would love it because we would take the consequences, and some  of our friends (notably Israel) would want it.

But I agree with you; it's probably a tactic, one that may serve well. It becomes either "kick Hamas out or lose it all" to the people there.