By Tuesday morning, it looked like the answer could be yes, with the president sounding off in capital letters about the government’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, an arrangement he had previously endorsed.
What might come next? Again Downing Street held its breath, before deciding to notch up its critique in the Commons on Wednesday.
The prime minister told MPs he would “not yield” over his support for Greenland, despite the threat of tariffs. His team knew this wasn’t without risk.
Now, almost as quickly as the row accelerated, President Trump has hit the brakes.
A deal has been done, the threat of tariffs and reality of tub thumping language has gone.
And yes, we have heard this album before.
The president makes a provocative and to many outrageous suggestion, reaction around the world scatters in multiple directions, the White House has seized the agenda.
The world, or at least the West, splutters, frets, contorts and argues – and a solution is arrived at, but not before so many are brutally reminded of America’s brute force, when led by a man happy to be brutish in his approach.
And America’s friends and foes, catching their breath, ponder what will prompt the next diplomatic grenade from the Oval Office.