I think he's sane, but he's surrounded himself with "Yes" men so long that people are making stuff up, so they can go to him and say "Yes there is a way", in an attempt to get something from him, weather that be money, power, attention, fame, or something else.
So he's hearing bad information that he wants to be true, and is mistakenly believing it.
Also, I'd like to point out... the article says he said it, it didn't say he believes it. He likes saying a lot of things just to push people buttons. Not nessarily because he believes them, but to get a reaction, and this is a reaction, so if that was his goal, it was successful.
