I don't think he was implying that it was his only standard for trust, but as you establish trust in certain people over time you also grow to trust their judge

I don't think he was implying that it was his only standard for trust, but as you establish trust in certain people over time you also grow to trust their judgement and part of that is giving a benefit of the doubt level of trust to people who have earned their trust (without having to invest in the direct development as much).