Has anyone independently verified Donald Trump's claim of having an IQ of 195?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has publicly boasted about very high IQs at various times, but no independent, verifiable IQ score of 195 (or any other definitive number) is documented in reputable reporting; multiple news outlets and fact-checkers note he has never published an authenticated IQ score and that his recent claims confuse a cognitive screen with an IQ test (BBC; People; Snopes) [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not confirm any independent verification of a 195 IQ claim [4].
1. Trump’s repeated boasts, and what reporters established
Donald Trump has frequently claimed to have a higher IQ than other public figures, but news reporting going back years finds no release of an authenticated IQ score by Trump himself; the BBC plainly states Mr. Trump “has never revealed his own IQ” [1]. Modern accounts show the pattern of boasting continues into 2025, but the apparent evidence trail — a publicly disclosed, professionally administered IQ report that would substantiate a figure such as 195 — is not present in current reporting [1] [4].
2. The 195 number: no independent documentation in available reporting
Search results and fact-checks included in the provided material do not locate an original, independently authenticated IQ report showing a 195 score for Trump. Snopes and other skeptical outlets have debunked or cast doubt on circulated documents and memes purporting to show various low or high scores, and Truthorfake notes that Trump’s own assertions “lack independent verification” [3] [4]. In short, available sources do not mention any verified 195 score.
3. Recent confusion over a cognitive screening vs. IQ testing
In late 2025 reporting, Trump spoke of “IQ tests” he said he had taken at Walter Reed. Journalists and experts pointed out he appeared to be referring to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a screening tool for cognitive impairment, not a standardized IQ battery. MoCA’s creator told NBC there are “no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests,” and outlets such as People and Axios emphasized the test is designed to detect impairment rather than measure intelligence [2] [5]. That distinction is key: a perfect MoCA score is not evidence of a 195 IQ.
4. Why an independently verified 195 would be extraordinary and need documentation
An IQ of 195 would place someone many standard deviations above average and is an extraordinary claim requiring extraordinary documentation: a properly administered, normed IQ test with documented administration, scoring, and provenance. The sources here show recurring claims and online memes about various historical scores (including low-score rumors) have circulated and been debunked or left unverified by fact-checkers [3] [4]. Current reporting does not supply the kind of primary test report or physician/psychologist statement that independent verification requires.
5. Competing narratives and motives in the record
Two competing threads appear in the sources: the first is Trump’s own rhetorical advantage in asserting superior intellect; the second is fact-checking and journalism cautioning that those assertions are unsupported or conflated with other assessments [1] [2] [3]. Media and fact-checkers have incentives to correct misleading claims about medical or cognitive tests; political actors have incentives to amplify claims that bolster authority. Readers should weigh both the source of the claim and the lack of primary documentation in evaluating a stated 195 IQ [4].
6. Limitations of the available sources and recommended next steps
The documents and articles provided do not include any original IQ test results, psychiatric/psychological reports, or authenticated records demonstrating a 195 score; therefore we cannot confirm or refute that specific claim from these materials (not found in current reporting). To verify such a claim would require: (a) access to the original, signed IQ test report; (b) confirmation of the test type and norms used; and (c) corroboration from a qualified psychologist who administered or reviewed the test. None of the provided sources supply that evidence [3] [4].
7. Bottom line for readers
Available reporting and fact-checking show no independent verification of any specific IQ number for Donald Trump, and contemporary news coverage highlights confusion between a cognitive screening and standardized IQ testing [1] [2] [5]. Extraordinary numeric claims like “195” remain uncorroborated in the reviewed sources; until primary test documentation or a qualified professional statement is provided in the public record, the claim should be treated as unverified [3] [4].