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Published by the Washington Post



I am a registered Republican. And like many others, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. His tone and rhetoric alarmed me.

But in hindsight, much of what Trump actually did, particularly in his foreign policy, turned out to be effective.

Realizing my mistake set me thinking about a question I’ve pondered my whole life: What does it mean to be smart?

My definition of intelligence has evolved with my age. In high school and college, I thought it meant getting good grades. Later it became about making money. Now in my seventies, I question all those ideas. I’ve come to believe that intelligence is not about credentials or conventional success.

Writing articles and reading expert opinions doesn’t automatically make you wise. Book knowledge is valuable, but it's not the whole picture.

There’s another kind of intelligence: intuitive, instinctive, often unspoken. Trump calls it his “gut.”

Growing up, I was fascinated by how village elders would resolve complex conflicts over land, water, family disputes, even killings. Their sense of justice wasn’t taught in classrooms, but born from lived experience. Their decisions often brought resolutions that government officials could never deliver. Watching them taught me that real wisdom is rooted in empathy, experience and, yes, gut instinct.

When Trump ordered the strike on Iran’s nuclear site, it didn’t spiral into catastrophe. It didn’t trigger a new Middle East war. In fact, it might have shortened one. Tehran has yet to retaliate, and time will tell how it unfolds. But so far, Trump’s “gut” has held.

Maybe what I was searching for all along wasn’t just intelligence — it was wisdom. The kind that village elders showed in my youth. The kind that doesn’t always speak in polished language but delivers real results. Trump calls it “gut.” At first, I dismissed it. But now, I understand its power.

I didn’t vote for Trump. And I was wrong.




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