"He genuinely believed it was legal and wanted them as souvenirs."

Bitching that they were "negotiating" and then suddenly came the subpoena. "Nixon got $18 million!"
(And they promptly changed the law to keep from getting taken again.)

I think Trump thought if he couldn't sell these to Putin and MBS, he'd be like an art thief and sell it all back to the government. And he actually feels like he's been cheated!

Goodness, he's smut.

Since at one time all of our country's most secret of secrets were in his control, he feels those secrets are still all his to shop around for fun and profit.

But he has a really bad memory and can't communicate above a 12 year old level, so he needed the hard copies.

And I bet he still feels they are now his get out of jail free card, even now. Ironic

It could certainly be more than that, but Trump's actions are often borne out of ego, especially his more self-destructive ones.

He's not a complicated guy. He is pathologically self-centered and vain. Everything is about him, always.

Is the document addressed to him? It's his, forever.

He's a toxic clown who wears a clown suit and clown makeup and clown shoes and has clown hair. He's the worst person in America.

Being able to access any secret and air force one were the two things Trump loved the most about being president. He couldn't take air force one, but he could take the documents.

The fact that he might have sold them or show them to others was about power as well. Money is money. But people buying the documents isn't about finance, it's about power.