The United States was a potential world superpower as far back as the 1880s, and certainly by the 1890s. It had a massive population, an abundance of natural resources, a heavily industrial economy (and was the top steel producer in the world), and perhaps most importantly for an aspiring naval power, lots of access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
My question is, suppose the United States recognized this potential early on, and began a program to make itself into a true world superpower? You can create any POD to make this possible, such as a hostile brush with a foreign power that shows the US' military weakness and scares it into arming itself, or a more approving Congress that in OTL largely restricted naval development.
In any event, the United States begins approaching Britain's level of military power, with the potential to eventually surpass it.
What happens next? How do the European powers, Britain in particular, react? And what is the effect on World War I and afterwards?