Threaten to drive around capital of Rhode Island (7)
I believe the answer is:
imperil
'threaten' is the definition.
(I know that threaten can be written as imperil)
'drive around capital of rhode island' is the wordplay.
'drive' becomes 'impel' (I've seen this before).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'capital of' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'rhode island' is 'ri'.
'impel' going around 'ri' is 'IMPERIL'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for imperil that I've seen before include "Put at risk" , "Put in danger" , "Threaten, jeopardise" , "Place in danger" , "Jeopardize" .)