his decided to cease to

Delete that. :)

it's not Donald's ego, it's Donald's pocketbook.

I would be interested in a list of those "pedophile friends" and "donors" (or two lists if you'd prefer with names appearing on both lists when/if necessary) that you surmise Trump is "no longer willing to protect."

Right from the jump, we can obviously eliminate his friend Ghislaine Maxwell because Trump is demonstrably still willing to protect that particular convicted pedophile.

his decided to cease to

1. Yep
2. What in fresh hell causes you to believe that President Flip-Flop Coverup Former Democrat But Lifelong Narcissist is suddenly interested in protecting his "friends" and "donors" and not his own fragile ego from the handwriting on the wall that he's losing the vote while simultaneously losing control?

Rhetorical question.

How will it do that?

You're correct; it won't. Trump has no intention of releasing all the files as evidenced by his order to the DOJ to investigate named Democrats and thus provide his administration a preemptive excuse to withhold some files and yet provide the Oversight Committee "whatever they are legally entitled to."

Which is why Trump using his patented "jump on the winning bandwagon at the last possible moment" tactic is so downright bizarre.

It isn't bizarre for a toxic narcissist to protect his ego at all costs; it's actually common and patently predictable.

He's encouraging a vote against himself, in essence. How does that even make sense?

He sees the handwriting on the wall that he's lost the issue, and he must protect his fragile ego. His narcissism is the primary defense that masks his inner shame, and the secondary defense is the incessant blame. The narcissists' ego cannot handle being bested, as his image is everything to him. He's therefore always hero or victim or even simultaneously both (I won the election; they cheated me), and he will lie unceasingly because he doesn't give a hang about facts or whomever he throws under the bus in the process. When he loses control, the tactics he will resort to are his usual modus operandi... but on steroids, e.g.: Trump has intensified his bullying and manipulation/punishing tactics, smear campaigns against individuals, the gaslighting, projecting and playing the blame game.

Republicans who disobey Trump get the total treatment, but then to protect his fragility from the appearance of being a losing loser, his Republican allies who oppose the release of the files have now been thrown under the bus as Trump performs a complete flip to guard his pathetic ego and deflect blame.

It appears Dotard Donald is unaware that he was -- in point of fact -- registered in New York as a Democrat for many multiple years and definitely ran in those circles (as evidenced by hundreds of photographs, depositions, testimony, etc., and it's obvious Trump believes Republicans and the MAGA cult are infinitely ignorant and will buy into whatever bullshit he invents... which is why he changed his registration and ran as one of them.

How will it do that?