playing up divisions(Analysts say the Kremlin isn’t counting on Turkey quitting NATO, though it’s playing up divisions to undermine the military alliance while sealing weapons deals with Ankara (Bloomberg) gr82bstr8)
play the spoiler(In the presidential election of 1912, Theodore Roosevelt played the "spoiler role" by garnering enough support to cost William Howard Taft, the Republican incumbent, the election. VLZ_58)