Android dropped a lot of native APIs, though, so it may take a while for the Play Store version to be feature complete again (and even then they will still need to continuously convince their AI reviewers that they do in fact need all of those permissions).

Google decided that it's not acceptable to execute downloaded binaries, which is a fair requirement for most non-malicious apps, but a program for Termux. Termux can work around it, but I'm fully expecting them to get kicked out of the Play Store not long after their work is complete for circumventing these protections.

I don't think that has much to do with it. Google's problem with Termux is that it downloads and executes native code. Also, you're phrasing that like refusing to acknowledge a megacorporation's version of the truth is a bad thing.