I’ll buy your premise but only to a point. And I’ll admit my take may be prompted by a defense mechanism. If Trump’s ineptitude is an act (talk about type casting), he is surely taking-in members of the majority party.

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell do seem convinced Trump can’t operate without them. Because they think their success demands aligning with the president, they’re doing everything to prop-up the businessman aura and, at the same time, making-up for his lack of governing experience. While they’re trying to make Trump look good, he is simultaneously distancing himself from them because they represent the establishment. He needs to remain the outsider, which also gives him an out when he fails, i.e. “The government is more broken than he thought.” — the excuse Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, promoted after the Repeal & Replace debacle.

In any case, you’re hypothesizing (and contrasting) there are at least two versions of a Trump scam: (1) The Trump University scam, where he convinces unsuspecting middle Americans they are working with someone who is truly brilliant and will lead them to the promised land, and (2) The POTUS scam, where he convinces the unsuspecting Republican leadership they are working with someone who is truly inept and requires their help to get to the promised land.

So as with the Trump University settlement, he profits if he wins and profits if he loses. Now, that’s brilliant ineptitude!