Canada is a distraction. It requires almost zero effort for Trump to kick that hornets' nest, and you get several news cycles out of the response and all the tweets from celebrities and the economists writing thesis after thesis about what a fucking stupid idea it is.
Meanwhile, what is Trump doing? He's selling pardons, betraying our allies, dismantling the government structures that can oppose him, and lining his own pockets with our tax dollars.
Trump's goal is to weaken the US by severing the relationship we've built with our allies. He doesn't give a shit about acquiring Canada, but if he can use that premise as means of pissing them off, that's what he'll do.
Donald Trump is a domestic enemy to the United States and its constitution.
I don’t think Putin would want US to annex Canada on the basis that it would add tons of democrat votes on the basis of Canada not exactly being a MAGA paradise.