Or perhaps this is all a refined psyops to make Putin laugh himself to death?

Yes, verifiably untrue. But for Trump facts and truth don't matter. He is creating his own reality. It is a strategy.
open.substack.com/pub/alexande...

This embarrassment combined with the prospect of football matches in stadiums or shown in public viewings or bars serving ICE as honey traps to round up (or shoot) Latino or other foreign looking fans, and in the end Trump claiming the trophy, makes the World Cup a dire prospect.

The answer is simple: personal greed.

This is a key argument to insist on: National populists (UK, Germany, Hungary and elsewhere) claim sovereignty, patriotism etc but are de facto submitting to Trump.

Perhaps there is already someone else who thinks he is uniquely positioned to be the next Shah of Persia?