In reality, it would create a long and indefinite suffering for which, polling suggests, the public would hold him and Republicans accountable. We will find out soon whether Trump is serious or bluffing (or whether he simply needs someone to spend 10 minutes explaining reality to him). What’s notable about the whole mess is that the very Republicans in Congress who fancied themselves avatars of business certainty could strip Trump of his power to weaponize chaos in Obamacare, but have so far declined.

Trump’s threat is centered around payments the government makes to insurers that cover low-income individuals and families who can’t afford to pay deductibles and copays. During the Obama presidency, Republicans argued in court that the ACA does not authorize those payments, understanding that if the courts agreed, insurance markets in many states would fail and Democrats would bear the political consequences.

Thanks to the magical power of cynicism, Republicans’ unexpected consolidation of power in Washington has given them second thoughts about that argument, but the logic of their earlier position, and of their antipathy to the ACA, has inhibited them from doing anything to root the payments in firmer grounds. In other words, they have left the fate of the insurance markets in the hands of a president who has mistaken Democrats’ self-interest for his own.

Obamacare skeptics in the health insurance industry, and the Obamacare haters at the Chamber of Commerce, have joined the call for Trump to rescind his threat. Perhaps they will prevail on him to change course, but it is worth noting that even if he abandons this particular daredevil routine, Trump has given insurance companies a strong sense that his administration is conflicted about how to administer health policy, is not fully committed to the success of the markets—enough cause for alarm, in other words, to raise premiums or abandon the markets altogether.

The fact that there’s a fair amount of intention baked into the health care fiasco should alarm those concerned about Trump’s policy incoherence in other realms. Trump and his cabinet have empowered immigration enforcement officials to cast a wider net in apprehending and deporting immigrants, without making the kinds of clear adjustments to policy that would let immigrants, their families, and their employers (a mix of citizens and non-citizens) know where they stand.