Becoming president does not automatically guarantee presidential genius. Sure, Donald Trump’s behavior is difficult to predict. He is definitely eccentric and hopefully one of a kind. His explosive temperament keeps people around him walking on eggshells. Does that mean he is a “stable genius” doing “super genius stuff?” Most people who are extremely intelligence do not have to tell people they are, and they do not usually talk the same way as POTUS does. Trump’s alma mater Wharton Business School and others have plenty of examples that point the way toward the answer about the president’s intelligence.
The Washington Post wrote that getting into Wharton did not necessarily mean that the commander-in-chief was a genius. James Nolan was the director of admissions at the time, and he talked about the president’s older brother to The Post:
‘James Nolan was working in the University of Pennsylvania’s admissions office in 1966 when he got a phone call from one of his closest friends, Fred Trump Jr. It was a plea to help Fred’s younger brother, Donald Trump, get into Penn’s Wharton School.’
Nolan, who is seven years Trump’s senior, said that the president’s brother called him and asked:
‘He called me and said, “You remember my brother Donald?’ Which I didn’t. He’s at Fordham and he would like to transfer to Wharton. Will you interview him?” I was happy to do that.’
The Hive further reported that Trump’s father, Fred, joined him for the interview:
‘Soon, Donald Trump arrived at Penn for the interview, accompanied by his father, Fred Trump Sr., who sought to “ingratiate” himself.’
Nolan was not certain whether Fred Trump and his real estate fortune made the difference in his son getting into Wharton. However, a “string of circumstances” was responsible for Trump’s rise as a real estate king. The president would not have made any more money on the fortune his father gave him had he parked his inheritance in the bank:
‘While Nolan can’t say whether his role was decisive, it was one of a string of circumstances in which Trump had a fortuitous connection, including the inheritance from his father that enabled him to build his real estate business, and a diagnosis of bone spurs that provided a medical exemption from the military by a doctor who, according to the New York Times, rented his office from Fred Trump Sr.’
Interestingly enough, Nolan does not recall being terribly impressed by the shining brilliance of Trump’s genius. Nolan recalled:
‘I certainly was not struck by any sense that I’m sitting before a genius. Certainly not a super genius.’
Rex Tillerson, Trump’s former Secretary of State, once famously said after a meeting with the president, he was “dumber than a rock.”
Trump rarely prepared for his meetings with world leaders. He does not like to read and is impatient when top aides try to brief him. Instead, the staff prepared pictures, which he was more likely to appreciate, with minimal descriptions. Another time Tillerson called him a “fucking moron.” When Tillerson was given an opportunity to withdraw his comments later, he declined.
Frustrated to the point of exasperation, Tillerson challenged POTUS to an I.Q. test. Of course, Trump did not take him up on that offer. Instead, the president had him fired and replaced him with Mike Pompeo, who had been serving as the FBI Director. He got along with the president better. Last December the president had this to say about the man he had replaced as secretary of State:
‘(He Didn’t have) the mental capacity needed to be secretary (and was) lazy as hell.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
