Makes no sense. But again, what does these days?

[luzribeiro]

If Trump wants the US to compete with the world, why would he eviscerate the U.S. Agency for International Development, an essential tool of American soft power influence around the world? Or fire thousands of the scientists needed to keep the United States competitive? Or attack the institutions of higher education that Americans need to stay ahead? Or refer to half of his own population as the enemy within? Or threaten good neighbors while making nice with China’s no-limits friend? Or hand over so much power to Mr Musk, who has deep business interests in China?"

All actions that make little to no sense, among many others.

Short answer? He doesn't. I'm not sure how much is him, and how much is Musk and other billionaires.

But it does seem to be one of those set-ups which in sci-fi books leads to the rise of the merchant princes. (Two words manage to be part of the chapter title of a book I'm re-reading). The goal seems to be to first incapacitate the federal government, and then I presume to use its incapacitaiton as a dishonest justification for getting rid of it. A great example of why Big-L Libertarianism can't work. Get rid of the government and you have a power vacuum. Humanity abhors a vacuum even more than nature does. Someone is gonna be the government, and it isn't going to be one merely influenced and partially bought by monied interests. It could easily end up being whatever the monied interests want.