

I don’t think they’re that clever. Seriously. I think that all the “distractions” are crazy things their major supporters want (less regulation on putting raw sewage in drinking water), crazy things their policy architects want for stupid or awful reasons (ending birthright citizenship because you think America should be a white Christian nation), naked adoration for dictators because they’re what running a country like a business looks like, or just the most transparent “negotiation” that burns good will because you don’t understand that getting an agreement is good, and getting an agreement where the other side is happy too is better.
Threaten tariffs and wait a while to let the other side offer something to get you to not do it. Threaten to annex Greenland, and then compromise on guaranteed transit rights in their territorial waters and maybe some resource extraction agreements. Same for the Panama canal.
In the grand scheme of things the money from the sale of the cars is relatively insignificant to his wealth.
The stock price dropping hurts him a lot more, and “people don’t want to buy the cars” is better for the price than “people actively hate the company”.
He’s also going to have an increasingly difficult time getting the insurance to pay the sales price of the car when it won’t sell.