I think a more robust argument for you is just that the US government is insane

If you don't know how the world works and ascribe all actions to "crazed" individuals, sure. This is very typical thinking for liberals, for example. Doesn't really work for anyone with a material conception of reality though.

By your own logic, they lost out on a huge potential trading partner when they put all effort into isolating and provoking the USSR. A trading partner is not what they were aiming for. And it's not what they're aiming for now. Why would it be?