The "staged" conspiracy theory (not saying it is right or wrong) relies on the assumption that he was not actually shot (either teleprompter glass cut him or he "bladed" or used a blood pack to get the bloody face effect); that the shooter was making it look like an attempt but only ever intended to shoot into the crowd. Again, not endorsing this idea, but it is one of those things that is hard to put past Trump. I personally am anticipating this to either die or get much bigger once he removes the bandage and we see his ear in 4k. The images from the event showed so little damage it's hard to tell.

I don't know, they got MUCH more expensive hotel accommodations on his watch.