Yes, a psy-op. But the more you contemplate it, the more oxygen you are giving it, same as any other troll.
Once you have defined it into likely context, as you folks clearly have, it's best to walk around it, like the turd in the road that it is. Poking at it any more is counterproductive on several levels.
BTW, was it really necessary to do all that research?
As soon as they said Trump was playing chess, that blows up their credibility right there :)