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Comment by jpster | Hacker News Reader

What are Canada’s options for successfully resisting a US invasion? I imagine it could call on NATO and UK military support? Support from other commonwealth nations? It seems it would be outmatched by the US military might. I think its only real hope is that US military personnel would refuse to obey orders to attack our neighbors.

I really hope this doesn’t come to pass. Part of me has always expected the US to attempt this. I thought there could be a point in which climate change would become so bad and water and resources so scarce that the US would find it irresistible. I thought this scenario, if it happened, would be decades from now. It’s surreal to see it playing out. My SO is Canadian and if it happened, we would likely plan our own AmeriExit, for our family.

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Military Strength isn't military power. For an action to be successful you need willpower behind your resources. Prompts like 9/11 buy you a lot of will but I don't think Canada's tariffs are going to pull the same levers in the minds of everyday Americans. Maple syrup is good, but not that good.

Honestly I'd expect the union to break apart and civil war before an invasion on Canada were possible. Lots of rich blue states up north too.

Invading Canada may cause a civil war yo erupt in the US, or at least it might be one of the outcomes with the highest chance of success.

"...would be outmatched by the US military might." Such as in Korea, Vietnam or Afghanistan? Perhaps Canada could become the US version of Ukraine?

Unlike any of those countries, the majority of Canada's population lives almost touching the border. And most of that is in a single strip. They also don't have an environment conducive to guerilla warfare.

The advantage they do have is a modern military and, maybe, French nukes.

Any modern leader not thinking of nuclear proliferation as a form of self defense at this point is a fool.

Question for Americans here: is the idea of the U.S. annexing Canada within a 4-year Trump presidency even remotely realistic?

Assuming Democrats return to power in 2028 and reverse course, could such a drastic move even be attempted in that time frame?

Additionally, wouldn’t Republicans need full Congressional support to initiate something like this? If not, what is the actual strategic thinking of the current Republican party in terms of foreign policy ambitions?

I'm trying to understand whether there's any political/strategic framework where something like this is even being considered, or if it's just a negotiation tactic for tariffs..

Unfortunately, you're still operating in the land of norms. We don't know, he's moving so fast and breaking so many laws and gutting so many institutions and making so many threats and ideas that we just cannot keep up.

At this point, your assumption of even having elections in 2028 could be faulty. Remember, there was an attempt overthrow the US government in 2021 by Trump.

But to answer your question: he can basically do anything he wants and the only thing that could stop him is mass refusals or the Republicans in legislation. There is nothing else.

> your assumption of even having elections in 2028 could be faulty.

The 2026 midterms will likely be compromised too. Remember that Trump has pardoned all J6 rioters. One can now expect more hardcore MAGA folks to come out of the woodwork to destroy voting booths in Democrat-leaning constituencies, knowing that they won't suffer any consequences.

If the US does something as bold and illegal as attacking Canada, there’s no fucking way free and fair elections are happening again.

There is 0 chance American military would resist those orders. They would obey.

Before the attack, there would be period of economic was and vilification of Canada. They would believe all of that and blame Canada for US economic problems. That process already started.

There would also be a period of replacing leadership and members by loyalists... that already started to happen too.

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