They know that polarization works (it's their most successful strategy). The most likely strategy is the one where they enemy gets you to play the game: heads I win, tails you lose.

Making a contested election destroys DeSantis or Trump as a viable candidate. If DeSantis wins, he owes his success to their financing and is controllable. If Trump wins the polarization makes him the head of the movement, making him the monopolar target. If he gets eliminated, then the movement dies.

But of course, they misunderstand the populist movement. Trump actually doesn't mean anything, it's just a guy to rally around, the pressure is already there. This is actually more like Ghandi or Mandella. The larger population is already pre-disposed towards rebelling against the current order by one degree or another, imprisoning or killing them stops nothing.

Yes, I didn't just compare Trump to Ghandi and Mandella. Difference is that Trump isn't a communist terrorist like Mandella, and isn't as well connected to the aristocracy as Ghandi. That's why they are hoping they can break him to damage the movement.

To be honest, those are recent history. It's much more akin to the American Revolution, where there is a popular interest against the aristocracy, with no actual direct head. The establishment is hoping to make one in order to kill the movement. But that's not how this works.