That’s part of his standard bag of tricks. Say loads of ridiculous offensive threatening stuff. See what sticks with his base. Let the sycophants around him laugh nervously but not explicitly say he’s joking unless he does first. He’s only joking when it suits and not joking when it also suits.

Henry Hill: You're a pistol, you're really funny. You're really funny.

Tommy DeVito: What do you mean I'm funny?

Henry Hill: It's funny, you know. It's a good story, it's funny, you're a funny guy.

[laughs]

Tommy DeVito: What do you mean, you mean the way I talk? What?

Henry Hill: It's just, you know. You're just funny, it's... funny, you know the way you tell the story and everything.

Tommy DeVito: [it becomes quiet]

Funny how? What's funny about it?

The downside is, escalating to an annexation is the next step if a naval blockade fails. The US can't achieve their objectives by landing Marines on the shore, they've got to bring up the whole Army and prepare for proper war. It's a dark omen for the future in the Strait.