[Zhang Fei]

[True, but irrelevant - Hitler could not avoid declaring war on the US. He would have lost face if - as he expected, based on publicly leaked Rainbow plans - the US declared war on him. First.]

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The US would not have declared war on Germany if Hitler had not done so first. Popular opinion against US participation was simply too strong, influenced, undoubtedly, by the large German- and Italian-American populations (and other ethnics from the Axis countries) who were not particularly thrilled about having to fight their co-ethnics from the old country. Hitler’s declaration of war swung that around.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The US would not have declared war on Germany if Hitler had not done so first. Popular opinion against US participation was simply too strong

I agree - but Hitler didn’t.

Hitler’s problem was that the US was logistically keeping Britain - and also the USSR - afloat. How FDR managed to “stay neutral” enough to satisfy US public opinion while he was supplying increasing war materiel to Hitler’s enemies is an interesting PR question.