Am I missing some alternate definition of "method" which is actually explored by this article? I was hoping for some (even speculative) explanation for why territorial expansion has suddenly entered the American zeitgeist...
More than the inevitable national tragedies that will be openly shirked and just used as opportunities to divide, more than the overt destruction and corporate coup his cadre of anti-American enablers have had four years to plan, what I am really dreading is going back to being continually gaslit that any of it makes sense as a coherent political perspective beyond mere postmodern nihilism.
Trump's goal is to get his nominees through congress. Some are fine, but there are about 5-7 who are deemed pretty unacceptable by most people. Perhaps the lack of light on those people will help get them through the process.
That's the core issue with his "trolling", usually a troll doesn't have power so not feeding them the attention is all it's needed to defuse the situation, when the troll has the weight of the USA's government filled with sycophants behind to do their bidding then it isn't trolling anymore but much more a "testing the waters" situation.
It could also have interesting effects regarding Russia/Ukraine negotiations. Russia would be wise to consider if it really wants to open to door to a major powers territorial acquisition fire-sale....
Its to get leverage in Ukraine negotiation talks. And also it helps to make Trump look like a tough guy with his base.
I see at least one downside in that this approach must surely irritate the Danes and they're a NATO ally to boot.