Y'all are basically saying the same thing. He was a master manipulator and played the media, but he didn't map out his plans, it was done by instinct, off the cuff. His repetition of words and phrases annoyed the hell out of most folks, but he was basically conditioning his audience, who listened to him over and over again, exposed to these mantras via Fox news and other outlets who only supported Trump. It was like affirmations for the wicked. There were no other media inputs to compare for reason, fairness, truth or accuracy. Every thing was labeled fake news, and he repeated that word over and over again, and his base parroted him word for word.
Trump takes note of what excites people and he pushes it further. He pays attention to feedback and adjusts accordingly. He instinctively knows what buttons to push and tells people what they want to hear. All those so called Christians? He wasn't appealing to their goodness, he appealed tho their thirst for power, dislike of anyone not living and worshiping like them, and the desire to assert their will and way of life over the rest of the country. However, he also had people around him like Stephen Miller who were using and manipulating him for their own ends and they DID plan and were purposely weaponizing race and racial tensions. Racial stuff that Trump may not be aware of, such as making announcements or launching initiatives that were in opposition to something on the anniversary of a significant event regarding it. Trump was a spark used to light stuff up. They basically just had to put a bug in his ear and let him run with it.
