Have IQ claims about Trump been verified or debunked by credible sources?
Executive summary
Claims that Donald Trump has a verified IQ score have not been substantiated by credible reporting: the widely shared “73” claim has been debunked as a fabricated image with no corroborating newspaper article or archive record [1] [2] [3], while higher-number estimates such as “156” rest on speculative methodologies or inference, not an actual, released IQ test [4] [5].
1. The viral “73” story: fabricated, investigated and discredited
A meme purporting to show a newspaper clipping that Trump scored 73 on an IQ test allegedly taken at New York Military Academy was traced back to a doctored image with no original clipping found in newspaper archives or reverse-image searches, and veterans of the academy say such testing didn’t occur — fact‑checkers labeled the post false or “Pants on Fire” after checking archives and alumni testimony [1] [2] [3].
2. The opposite extreme: claims of a “156” IQ are estimates, not evidence
Other circulation around Trump’s intelligence points to much higher figures — for example a 156 estimate tied to a 2006 academic historiometric study or extrapolations from presumed SAT/admissions performance — but those figures are methodological extrapolations or amateur inferences rather than a documented, administered IQ test score released by Trump himself [4] [5].
3. No public, verifiable IQ score exists; only a cognitive screening has been referenced
Multiple credible outlets and fact‑checking organizations note that Trump has never publicly released an official IQ test score and researchers cannot find primary documentation of any youth IQ tests; some reporting does note a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) cognitive screen was administered in clinical contexts, but the MoCA is a brief dementia screen, not a standardized IQ battery, and does not translate into a validated IQ number [6] [7].
4. Why certainty is impossible: limitations of the sources and methods
Estimating intelligence from school attendance, assumed SAT scores, or historiometric rankings of presidents relies on proxies and assumptions — approaches explicitly criticized by journalists and analysts because they conflate educational attainment or later performance with a psychometric IQ result, and because SATs, admissions profiles and simulated reconstructions cannot substitute for a supervised, documented IQ test [4] [7] [6].
5. Information ecosystem: how and why particular numbers spread
The 73 meme appears to have been crafted to look like a newspaper clipping and recycled photos were miscaptioned, tactics common in viral misinformation; contrastingly, high‑IQ claims are often amplified by partisan sites or by readers eager for simple rankings, creating a feedback loop where unverified numbers spread because they are sensational and confirm preexisting narratives about competence or incompetence [1] [5] [8].
6. What credible fact‑checkers conclude and the responsible interpretation
Independent fact‑checks from PolitiFact, Full Fact, Snopes and similar outlets converge on the same conclusion: there is no credible evidence for the 73 claim and no verified published IQ score for Trump — journalists and fact‑checkers therefore treat specific numeric claims as unverified or false unless primary documentation is produced [1] [2] [3]. Alternative viewpoints exist — scholars sometimes produce estimates using historiometric techniques that place some presidents at high levels — but those are explicit estimates with methodological caveats, not authenticated test results [4].
7. Bottom line: verified or debunked?
Specific numeric IQ claims about Donald Trump have not been verified; the 73 claim has been actively debunked as fabricated and other precise numbers (like 156) are speculative estimates rather than documented test outcomes — absent a released, supervised IQ test with verifiable provenance, credible sources treat numeric claims as unproven and, where provenance is demonstrably forged, false [1] [2] [4] [3].