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Fact check: What cognitive tests (e.g., MoCA, MMSE) did Donald Trump reportedly take and when?
Executive summary
Donald Trump is reported to have taken the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at least twice in publicly released medical summaries — during his January 2018 physical and again during a 2025 annual exam — and scored 30 out of 30 on both occasions, results described as indicating normal cognitive function by his physicians [1] [2]. There is no credible record in the provided documents that he took the Mini‑Mental State Examination (MMSE); public statements in some years that he “aced” a cognitive test did not specify the instrument and have been used politically by both supporters and critics [3] [4].
1. How the record establishes two MoCA administrations that produced perfect scores
The official contemporaneous White House physician report for Trump’s January 2018 exam documents a Cognitive Screening Exam using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) with a result of 30/30, recorded as normal cognitive function [1]. Separate, more recent medical releases tied to Trump’s April 2025 annual physical likewise state that the MoCA was administered and that he scored 30/30, with physicians describing his cognitive status as normal following the exam [5] [2]. These two dated medical documents create a consistent record across seven years showing repeated use of the same screening tool and identical perfect scores, and the reports themselves are the primary source for those claims [1] [2].
2. What the MoCA measures and what a perfect score means in clinical terms
The MoCA is a 30‑point screening instrument designed to detect mild cognitive impairment and early dementia, not to measure intelligence or IQ; a score above 26 is generally considered within the normal range according to descriptions of the test and its creator [6]. A perfect 30/30 indicates that, on the structured tasks administered (visuospatial, attention, executive function, memory recall, language, abstraction, orientation), the examinee met all scoring criteria in that brief screening context, but clinicians caution that the MoCA is a screening test and not a standalone diagnostic tool for broader cognitive abilities [6]. The test typically takes roughly ten minutes, and its interpretation depends on clinical context and additional evaluation when concerns arise [6].
3. Where public statements and political messaging have blurred the facts
Trump and his supporters have repeatedly described his cognitive test results in emphatic terms — saying he “aced” a test and portraying the result as proof of superior intellect — while detractors have highlighted that the MoCA is not an IQ test and that political messaging overstates what the screening shows [3] [4]. Media summaries and fact checks have noted that Trump has sometimes mischaracterized the MoCA’s purpose and significance, framing a screening result as broader evidence of exceptional cognitive ability, which the test’s designer and medical observers say is a misinterpretation [4] [6]. The competing narratives reflect differing agendas: proponents use the score to counter concerns about fitness, while critics use the test’s limitations to argue that the public has been misled [4] [3].
4. Absence of evidence for the MMSE and what that absence implies
None of the reviewed documents or press summaries in the provided evidence indicate that Trump took the Mini‑Mental State Examination (MMSE); the medical records and physician statements explicitly name the MoCA when reporting cognitive screening [1] [2]. The lack of MMSE documentation suggests that references in public discourse to “a cognitive test” either refer to the MoCA or are ambiguous shorthand, and that there is no verifiable record in these files of an MMSE administration to Trump. Clinically, physicians may choose the MoCA over the MMSE for greater sensitivity to early impairment, which aligns with the records showing repeated MoCA use rather than MMSE use [6].
5. Big‑picture takeaways and where uncertainty remains
Taken together, the documents show repeated MoCA testing with perfect scores in 2018 and 2025 as recorded in official physician reports, and the public record lacks documentation of an MMSE; these are the verifiable facts from the medical releases and media summaries provided [1] [2] [7]. Important caveats remain: the MoCA is a screening tool not a comprehensive cognitive battery, public statements have sometimes overstated its significance, and political messaging has amplified selective interpretations to support competing narratives about fitness for office [6] [4] [3]. For anyone seeking a fuller clinical picture, the available records do not show additional neurocognitive testing or detailed neuropsychological evaluation beyond the MoCA statements in 2018 and 2025 [8].