Hoops past while I’m basking in the glow of back to back championships?

Ok. Only time will tell if Trump is making a mistake. He is purposely amping up intensity of the protests to create an image of urban chaos against which he claims to be the bulwark. In this, he has an advantage - controlling the situation from his end is easy. The foot soldiers are in his chain of command.

The protestors rationally should make like Gandhi, and refuse to give the agitators what they want. But on their side there is no chain of command. The protestors don’t answer to dem politicians, and dem politicians will inevitably tread carefully with them, because they want these people to do more than protest. They have to vote. So they are not going to walk into soundbites on social media or in short interviews that will be perceived as opposing the protests.

To illustrate the point, many city leaders have strongly denounced the violence. Advantage: Trump - he has direct control over that side of the equation. No such thing exists on the other side, which is far easier to manipulate in this cynical game.