> Then KSA makes a nuke.
imho that's the real endgame anyway, the US is just hired muscle to beat up KSA's regional rival, and eventually when the US is done collapsing and retreating to isolationism KSA will do a big show of their nuclear weapons.
If KSA wants a nuke they'll get it, and the US politicians they've purchased will all applaud them for the accomplishment.
> If KSA wants a nuke they'll get it
> eventually when the US is done collapsing and retreating to isolationism KSA will do a big show of their nuclear weapons
They will not. If they do, they will go the same way Iran did. Iran used to be our KSA back in the day.
KSA getting a nuclear weapon means threatening the UAE, which now has a defense pact with India. A KSA (or UAE) nuclear bomb leads to a four-way KSA-UAE-India-Pakistan war.
Both the Gulf states hold India and Pakistan back from extended wars, and India+Pakistan hold the Gulf from falling into a regional war.
In fact, it's been Pakistan that has been setting the US's Iran policy under Trump [0][1][2].
[0] - https://www.intelligenceonline.com/middle-east-and-africa/20...
[1] - https://www.intelligenceonline.com/middle-east-and-africa/20...
[2] - https://www.intelligenceonline.com/asia-pacific/2025/07/09/p...