President Donald Trump's latest health report has reignited debate over cognitive testing after the 79-year-old president touted a perfect score on a screening exam as evidence of what he called "extreme intelligence," prompting pushback from medical experts who said the assessment was designed to detect signs of dementia rather than measure IQ.
The dispute emerged days after White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella released a medical memorandum declaring Trump "remains in excellent health" and is "fully fit to carry out all duties." The report described the president's physical and neurological condition as strong, noting "excellent" cognitive and physical performance following a comprehensive examination conducted at the White House on May 29.
Trump quickly seized on one aspect of the report: his score on a cognitive assessment that he said he had now completed four times.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump argued that "unlike other US Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered extreme intelligence."
The president added that this was his "fourth such test, all PERFECT or, 120 correct answers out of 120 questions asked."
Trump further claimed that perfect results were "very rare," particularly "when achieved four times in a row," and called for all presidential and vice-presidential candidates to undergo similar examinations.
The White House medical report itself did not characterize the result in those terms. Dr. Barbabella wrote that Trump demonstrated "strong cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and overall physical function." The physician also reported that a neurological examination showed "normal mental status, intact cranial nerves, normal motor strength, sensation, reflexes, gait and balance."
Medical experts, however, questioned Trump's interpretation of the exam.
Speaking on CNN, medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said the test referenced in the report appeared to be the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, commonly known as the MoCA. The assessment is widely used by physicians as a screening tool to identify potential cognitive impairment and early signs of dementia.
"I'll note again that it looks like they once again tested the president with the MOCA test," Reiner said.
He argued that repeatedly taking the same assessment reduces its value as a measurement tool.
"That's not really that useful when you take it over and over and over again, because the questions don't change that much," Reiner said.
The CNN analyst drew a distinction between cognitive screening and intelligence testing, rejecting Trump's assertion that the results reflected exceptional intellectual ability.
"Once you've taken it now four times, it's probably not that difficult to pretty easily get through it," Reiner explained. "It shouldn't be hard to get through it anyway, because it's a dementia screening test, it's not an IQ test."
