Can a paper wallet be the most secure?

Is it possible that a paper wallet can be the most secure option for someone who just wants to hold BTC long-term, with no real intention of using it as currency? At least perhaps until it becomes less volatile and more widely adopted as currency.

The issue I'm trying to work around is trust. I'm not exactly the most tech savvy individual but I get why Bitcoin is valuable. I have bitcoin, I believe. I FOMO'd in back in 2017 and have held my Bitcoin on exchanges ever since. Thank the heavens they've been secure and safe up to now.

I know this is the wrong way to do it and after doing some homework I'm starting to think the old school paper wallet is the safest.... for me.

A real old wallet that has no weak points is almost impossible for me as I don't understand the tech well enough. From what I've read eve an air-gapped laptop can be compromised. Also doesn't that require trust in a 3rd party to develop wallet generating software that needs updates etc?

Then multi-sig. Also requires a great deal of trust in a third party because if you don't trust them or don't need to, why give them signing power?

The the hard wallets like Trezor and Ledger. Again, is their not some form of trust with these companies manufacturing the hardware. How would I know there is no malware embedded there by some sneaky no-gooder? And don't you have to write your recovery phrase " on paper or some other medium" anyway?

I know the storage is best chosen to fit the usage but I am stuck for a decision.

I'd appreciate some knowledgeable opinions on this because the only thing I know is that I'm currently doing it wrong.