What does trump say his IQ is
Executive summary
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed superior intelligence, including once saying he had an IQ of 200, but there is no publicly released, verifiable IQ score for him; fact‑checkers and major outlets report that he has never provided formal IQ documentation [1] [2] [3]. Viral images and social posts asserting specific low or high scores—most notably a circulated claim that he scored 73—have been debunked as fabricated or unsupported [4] [5] [6].
1. The claim: Trump says he’s very smart and once said “200”
Trump has long boasted about his intellect and has called himself a “very stable genius,” and reporting traces one origin of high‑number claims to a 1984 Time interview in which he reportedly said his IQ was 200; that specific 200‑IQ figure has been widely treated as self‑reported and later questioned by experts and fact‑checkers [1].
2. What Trump has and has not produced in evidence
Despite frequent public boasts and challenges to political rivals to take IQ tests, Trump has not released any official or verifiable IQ test score to the public; multiple fact‑checking outlets state there is no known, documented IQ score for him in public records [2] [3] [7].
3. The 73 IQ story and other numeric memes: debunked
Claims that Trump scored 73 on an IQ test administered while at New York Military Academy are fabricated; PolitiFact, Snopes and Full Fact found the specific meme and alleged archival source to be false or unverified and determined there is no credible evidence supporting a 73 score [5] [6] [4]. Similarly, widely circulated infographics claiming very high scores (e.g., 156 or 200 presented as definitive) have been traced to unverified or unreliable origins and remain unsubstantiated by primary documentation [3] [1].
4. Recent confusion between cognitive screening and IQ testing
When Trump has referenced medical cognitive testing at Walter Reed, reporting shows he described a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) dementia screening as an “IQ test” and boasted of a perfect score; medical experts and the test’s creator have said the MoCA is a screening tool for cognitive decline, not a formal IQ measure, and advisers’ memos noted he received perfect scores on that screening in prior exams [8] [9] [10].
5. Why the question remains politically charged and frequently misreported
The appetite for a simple numeric verdict on public figures’ intellects creates fertile ground for both meme creators and partisan actors; social media posts that promote extreme low or high IQ figures spread quickly and have been amplified without evidence, prompting recurrent fact checks from outlets like Snopes, Full Fact and PolitiFact [6] [4] [5]. Media stories that dwell on an alleged score often conflate self‑claims, informal screenings and unverified leaked documents, and those conflations can serve political messaging goals on both sides—either to bolster an image of exceptional competence or to embarrass and discredit [1] [3].
6. Bottom line and limits of available reporting
There is no publicly available, independently verifiable IQ test score for Donald Trump; assertions that he “says his IQ is X” fall into two categories supported by the record: self‑reported boasts about being highly intelligent (including a longtime claim of “200”) and statements conflating a MoCA cognitive screening with an “IQ test,” which he said he aced [1] [8] [9]. Specific numeric claims circulated online—both very high and very low—have been debunked or remain unverified by mainstream fact‑checking organizations and news outlets [4] [5] [6].