on just one point in the theory:

 From New York Times First 100 days Briefing updated Feb. 1. 6:54pm

​■ Why did President Trump already file to run for re-election? To make sure the money still flowing into his campaign does not have to be refunded.

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Trump files for re-election — to hold on to his campaign cash

On the day of his inauguration, President Trump filed paperwork to declare his candidacy in the 2020 election, but it wasn’t necessarily a show of supreme confidence — more like a grasp for cash.

Financial disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission show that a lucrative December made the move an accounting necessity. The Trump campaign ended the year with $7.6 million in the bank and no debt, so any funds raised over $5,000 by the campaign in 2017 would have be returned unless Mr. Trump registered as a candidate for 2020. He obviously was not prepared tooffer refunds.

And the money has kept flowing. The campaign brought in more than $4 million in expense refunds, mostly from members of the media and the Secret Service for the seats they used on his campaign planes. This arrangement is typical — campaigns are required to charge the Secret Service and the press a fair rate. What’s unusual is that most of the campaign’s air travel expenses, nearly $9 million, were paid to companies owned by Trump.

There is one expenditure that has not slowed: Making America wear red hats again. The Trump campaign, along with two fundraising committees that raise money jointly with the Republican Party, brought in $6.5 million in contributions in the last month of 2016. More than a third of that was spent on on hats, mugs, stickers and other collateral.

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