Fact Check: Is Trump’s claim about being the ‘only president’ to take a cognitive test true?

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting on March 26, focusing mainly on major national and global issues. However, he also drifted into personal topics, including his preference for Sharpie pens and his cognitive test. While discussing the three cognitive tests he said he had taken, Trump claimed he is the only president to have done so. But is that claim true?

Claim: Trump is the only president to have ever taken a cognitive test

According to a viral video shared on an X account, @HQNewsNow, Donald Trump said he does not want a 'stupid person' to be president.

He said, “I don't. I don't want a stupid person being president, you know, I'll say it right now. I say it, because don't press never reports it. I'm the only president that ever took a cognitive test. I took it three times. It's actually a very hard test for a lot of people. It wasn't hard for me.”

Trump also described the cognitive test. He said, "But it's a cognitive test. It starts off with an easy question. And by the time you get to the middle gets suffered by the time you get to the end, very few people can answer those questions. They get very, very tough mathematical equations and things. I took it three times. I aced it all three times in front of numerous doctors that I have no idea who they have who are who they are.”

He further shared what doctors told him before taking the test. “And I was told when I went in, I said. Doc Ronnie told me this. My current doctors were fantastic doctors, they said, well. If you take it, you know, it's Walter Reed. It's essentially a public hospital. And if you do, bad leaves probably going to get out, but I aced it. I got them all right.”

Trump also encouraged others to take the test if they want to become president. “And one doctor said I’ve never seen anybody get them all right. I've been doing the test for 20 years. I want people. I, I would love to see anybody. That's a president, a vice president, or anybody. That has any chance of being a president. I would like to see them take a cognitive test, because we had a man in this office that had no clue.”

Fact check: Unconfirmed, Trump’s claims cannot be verified

The claim that Donald Trump is the only president to have ever taken a cognitive test cannot be verified. There is no official record showing whether any other US president has taken such a test.

Presidential medical exams, including details about cognitive testing, are often private. In Trump’s case, he publicly shared that he took a cognitive screening test, but it is unknown if other presidents have taken similar tests privately. Therefore, there is no evidence to prove that he is the only president to ever take a cognitive test.

Trump’s cognitive test gained attention because age and mental fitness became key topics in the US presidential race, especially compared to former President Joe Biden, who is 81. Biden has not taken a formal, independent cognitive test during his presidency, and his doctor has not recommended one, according to White House reports.

His annual physicals at Walter Reed, including in 2024, did not include a specific cognitive assessment, which the White House considered unnecessary.

What happens during cognitive tests?

Cognitive tests vary in length and detail. Short tests ask patients questions about memory and learning. Longer evaluations combine cognitive testing with physical and neurological exams, as well as a full medical history. 

Doctors often start with a brief test, such as the MoCA, and only move to a more detailed exam if results are lower than expected. 

Comprehensive tests measure language, problem-solving, and visual-spatial skills. For example, a doctor may read a story to a patient and then ask them to recall parts of it to test memory and learning.