There is an embedded assumption in the question that he does profit in some way from it, but based on his past behavior it’s a pretty safe guess.
Most of the reporting I have seen on this talks about the impact of the different tariffs, but not the “why” behind it (beyond parroting what Trump says, which is never true). I’m particularly interested in the tariffs on Canadian goods and energy. The justification about stopping fentanyl smuggling is an obvious lie. (It isn’t a real problem, and tariffs have nothing to do with drug smuggling. All but the mentally handicapped can figure that out for themselves.)
Let’s say you were a cynical POS who didn’t care about anything but enriching yourself. What if you could depress the stock market by doing a dumb thing, and get it to bounce back when you undo that dumb thing?
If you alone knew when you would undo the dumb thing, you could buy stocks low and sell them high because YOU are the one moving the market
Or he’s just a Russian agent, who knows.