Trump Continues To Brag About His Cognitive Test Results — But Which Exam Did He Take?

On October 7, 2025, President Donald J. Trump appeared to brag to reporters on Air Force One about taking what he called an "IQ test." Skewering Representatives Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as being "low IQ," he challenged the women to take the same test that he had recently been administered at Walter Reed Hospital. "I took– Those are very hard– They're really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way, but they're cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump," he said (via People).

While it hasn't been stated exactly which test the president took, it appears likely that it was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). It has been publicly disclosed that he took this test on at least two previous occasions, in April of this year (per The White House) and in 2018 (per NBC News). Trump reportedly received a 30/30 score both times.

While discussing his cognitive testing results, Trump also revealed that he had gotten "perfect" results on an MRI done during his routine checkup. However, he didn't state why it had been ordered or if it had any relationship to his cognitive testing (via People).

According to San Mateo County Health, the MoCA is designed to quickly screen individuals for mild cognitive impairment. It looks at such things as focus and attention, thinking and planning skills, memory, speaking and understanding language, visual and spatial skills, problem-solving, the ability to do calculations, and awareness of time and place. It takes around 10 minutes to complete the test, with a possible maximum score of 30. A score of 26 or greater is deemed to be normal.

Describing the process of taking the MoCA in 2020, Trump said the first questions are easy, while the later questions become more difficult. "It's like, you'll go, 'Person, woman, man, camera, TV.' So they say, 'Could you repeat that?' So I said, 'Yeah.' So it's, 'Person, woman, man, camera, TV.' OK, that's very good" (via Politico). Other types of questions on the test include drawing the time on an analog clock, naming pictures of animals, and repeating lists of numbers both forward and backward (via CBS News).

While President Trump seemed to feel that the MoCA is an IQ test, the reality is that it's not designed to measure intelligence. In fact, Dr. Zaid Nasreddine, the neurologist who created the MoCA, has explicitly stated that it's supposed to be easy for those with no cognitive impairment. "[T]his is not an IQ test or the level of how a person is extremely skilled or not," he told Market Watch. "The test is supposed to help physicians detect early signs of Alzheimer's."

Also, while Trump indicated that he had scored "the highest mark" on the test, all patients with normal cognition should be scoring at least 26. According to Nasreddine,10% of test takers will achieve the same "perfect" score boasted about by the president. Additionally, some experts have pointed out that those taking the test tend to have suspected cognitive decline, so a much larger percentage of the general population would likely recieve the same perfect score as the president if they took the test (via The Washington Post).