Canada

I think I'd just supporting the inevitable insurgency. Lots of Americans would probably join in as well. I'm sure China and Russia would gladly supply support. Putin's such a good buddy with Trump, he might even not smile as he funds the absolute destruction of the US for generations at pennies on the dollar.

It's the stupidest speculative future I can imagine. Who gains in this scenario? Why do something so obviously self destructive? Thing is, who would start a trade war and "joke" about annexation so much? Only someone so ill-informed that they can't remember how Afghanistan played out (twice) as well as Vietnam, Iraq, etc. Look how much Russia has bled in Ukraine, and to gain so little.

This isn't Europa Universalis IV. The strength of empires is not built on force of arms. It's built on the ability to wage war at an industrial scale, to maintain the supply lines and build the tools of destruction. More than that, it the ability to develop the connections to never need to war, and make war too costly.

The steel and aluminum tariffs are a great example of that. Alcan (now Rio-Tinto Alcan), originally Aluminum Company of Canada, is the largest producer of aluminum in the world. It was originally a subsidiary of Alcoa, Aluminum Company of America. It was an example of "friendshoring" or "nearshoring". Canadian aluminum helped build the Spitfires and Mustangs, the Lancasters and Flying Fortresses of WW2. Similar with steal. Since then, it's only become more interconnected. The cold war wasn't won in the fields of Vietnam, but in the studios of Hollywood and the factories of the Free World. Now Trump is throwing that away. For what? That's the scary thing, I remember learning about Mercantilism in Grade 10. The President of the US is operating at a Grade 10 level of understanding of the fate of nations. He's just ignorant enough he could do something really stupid.

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity" —Sun Tzu, probably the one quote Trump ever saw.

“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” ― Sun Tzu, the chapter Trump never got to.