To add to your point: Someone was like "Do you really think the Saudis would invest billions into a project that they knew would become unprofitable or even tank completely, just to destabilize the USA?" (to say nothing of getting insider intel on Saudi dissidents), and I just started laughing.
It's not to destabilize the USA, though, it's to increase surveillance over domestic dissent. People forget: Khashoggi wasn't even a particularly fierce critic of MBS. He professed enthusiasm for the man with regularity. But he disagreed... and he prrrrrrrrobably belonged to the CIA so... MBS reshuffled the deck. I think MBS regards the USA the way a rodeo clown regards a bull. The bull is the entire reason he's in the ring, is predictable but not entirely, and is largely busy with someone else's crap, but every now and then you have to dance in front of it so you can keep on keepin' on.