By clinging to American primacy through force and intimidation, Donald Trump is, ironically, undermining US global power. A saboteur trying to subvert US interests from the inside could hardly do better than what he’s accomplished through sheer incompetence.
If they actually were in it for the profit, why would they want to destroy the base of US political and economic power?
Some could just be blissfully unaware, only thinking about short term profits. Tax breaks and stock market manipulation stuff. I see this as a decent probability for at least some of the trump sycophants.
Could also be denial. They might actually believe, incorrectly, they’re strengthening US power. Who knows what mental gymnastics they’re going through.
American society for the last fifty years has prioritized short term gains over everything.
Personal profit and national profit are different things. Sometimes it’s more profitable to have a larger share of a smaller pie; this is how the Putin model of dictatorship operates. It’s also why, counterintuitively, oligarchs benefit from recessions more than strong economies.