The distaste for U.S. President Donald Trump is understandable — his ugly attacks on critics, crude language, grandiose promises, dishonesty in past business deals. But that should not blind us to the content of the policies he promises. He is a creature of instinct, and sometimes instinct can be closer to the truth than the dogmas of our allegedly better educated elites.

Take his protectionist trade policies for example. Free trade only makes sense when the partners enjoy a similar level of prosperity. That is certainly not the case when the United States trades with China or Mexico for example. Ditto for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, that imperious successor to a failed APEC.

Trump is criticized for not sharing the current anti-Russia hatred and hysteria. But is it really a sin if his business experience in Moscow taught him that Russians, including President Vladimir Putin, do not have two horns and a tail? Just listen to the lengthy Putin news conferences and you will discover a man of intelligent moderation, ready and able to handle all questions thrown at him, with a preference for Western journalists whose weak and ignorant questions, often delivered in English, he sets out politely to demolish.