More mental gymnastics... I'm not even sure what point is being made by this move, other than devaluing the blue check to the point of meaninglessness. It's not even "utilitarian": if leveling the playing field was Musk's interest, he would have eliminated the blue check altogether.
There is no mechanism for anti-impersonation if all it takes to get a blue check is payment. Bot farms can also pay money for blue checks...
Almost everything is irrelevant to a hostile nation state, because by its very nature it can outspend your security if it cares badly enough. In the immortal words of James Mickens[0], "If your adversary is the Mossad, YOU’RE GONNA DIE AND THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT."
Raising the costs has a general effect of cutting out people who do not care enough to pay - be it individuals, companies, or governments.
I think the expensive part comes mostly from the part that it is hard to make anonymous payment. Sending money is kind of a verification (unless dogecoin is accepted ;) ).
I still have no clue why bots would care to have it though, since there is obviously a very high percentage of people who don't.
There is no mechanism for anti-impersonation if all it takes to get a blue check is payment. Bot farms can also pay money for blue checks...