An obvious tool set up by the majority of the GOP primary electorate to screw their own party out of the presidential race? Or perhaps set up by conservative politicians, pundits, and donors who did what they could to attack Trump throughout the campaign, as some kind of reverse-psychology program because they wanted to screw themselves out of power? Set up by Trump himself, as a way to tarnish his own brand and guarantee that no one would want to do business with him in the future?

One way or another, these conspiracy-theory explanations seem a bit counterproductive from the perspective of any of the actors who might reasonably have carried out the conspiracy. The simpler explanation – that Trump is an egomaniacal bully with little knowledge of world affairs, and that enough Republican voters tend to like that for him to honestly win the primary against a weak and crowded field – seems more plausible to me, but hey...