I write for American Thinker and work with mechanics. I also give briefings to executives. The dumbest thing I can do next to looking stupid is appearing to be the smartest person in the room. It took me years to learn this.
Btw, I grew up across the river from Staten Island, so I get Trump. I also teach rifle marksmanship in Mississippi. You have to know your audience. Trump does.
Right. In appearing to be the smartest person in the room, you actually have to have command of the room, without having actual command of the room [this is the case with most smart people - they're not in ACTUAL command]. It's a difficult proposition, since humans are naturally competitive - mentally AND physically. So the potential for challenge [mental OR physical] is always there.
What I've learned is that MOST people are trained by The System to fit themselves into a faux intellectual "pecking order", mostly by the government skools.
"I'm smarter, yer dumber, I'm dumber, yer smarter".
Since I exist outside these classifications, AND am bigger, I get to ignore them [smarter/dumber classifications CAN be imposed by physical size].
But for the most part, I avoid appearing to be the smartest person in the room. :)
Your observation could fit into a Sun Tzu text, ebs. :)