I am looking for a word or short idiom that describes the situation when subliminally suggesting, or even slightly persuading, to someone that they do something that would hurt that person themself. An example of such an act can be found in the TV show House of Cards, where Francis Underwood casually places a razor blade on a bathtub's rim while his colleague Peter Russo takes a bath.
My first idea of a matching phrase was "to hold a pistol to someone's head", but I don't think it properly describes such a situation.
Best Answer
Egging someone on addresses the situation where verbal persuasion is used.
[Merriam-Webster]
[Jordan Seward; Daily Mail Jun 1 2020]