Trump confuses dementia screening for ‘very hard’ IQ test as he brags about results

President Donald Trump boasted about acing a dementia screening test during an impromptu press gaggle aboard Air Force One on Monday, October 27, challenging Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) to take the same “IQ test” and claiming they would fail.

The 79-year-old president, referring to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) administered at Walter Reed Medical Center in April 2025, described it as “very hard” aptitude questions involving animals like “a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe,” and the famous “person, woman, man, camera, TV” sequence.

Trump, who scored a perfect 30/30 in 2018 and April 2025 per White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella, used the moment to mock the younger lawmakers as “low IQ” while touting his “perfect” recent MRI results from an October check-up.

However, the creator of the MoCA, Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, reiterated it measures dementia risk, not intelligence, amid ongoing speculation about Trump’s health.

Trump’s Air Force One Remarks

En route from Joint Base Andrews to a rally in Georgia, Trump told reporters, “They have Jasmine Crockett, a low IQ person. AOC is low IQ. You give her an IQ test, have her pass, like, the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed.”

He continued, “I took– Those are very hard– They’re really aptitude tests, I guess, in a certain way, but they’re cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump. I don’t think Jasmine– The first couple questions are easy: a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, you know. When you get up to about five or six and then when you get up to 10 and 20 and 25, they couldn’t come close to answering any of those questions.”

Trump referenced his 2020 Fox News description: “It’s like you’ll go: Person, woman, man, camera, TV… If you get it in order, you get extra points… They say nobody gets it in order, it’s actually not that easy. But for me it was easy.” He claimed an October MRI was “perfect,” without disclosing the reason, per Barbabella’s summary of lab testing, advanced imaging, and preventive assessments.

MoCA is Not an IQ Test

The MoCA, a 10-minute test for mild cognitive impairment, scores 30 points on tasks like memory recall and clock drawing. Nasreddine told NBC News, “There are no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests.

The purpose of it was not to determine persons who have a low IQ level. So we cannot say that this test reflects somebody’s IQ.” A score of 26+ is normal; Trump’s perfect scores in 2018 and April 2025 were publicized amid Biden challenges.

TOP STORIES

• CBS Cuts Trump’s Corruption Tantrum From ‘60 Minutes’ Edit: It’s Not ‘Newsworthy’
• America could experience surge in credit card debt as SNAP benefits end for millions of people
• ICE Detains Wife of Staunch MAGA Supporter Who Donated Almost All His Net Income to Trump Campaign

Trump’s boast comes amid persistent dementia rumors, fueled by viral videos of October stumbles on Air Force One stairs and July 2025 swollen ankles from chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a common senior condition, per Barbabella.

Trump’s doctor history includes Ronny Jackson’s 2018 praise (“incredible genes… could live to 200”), demoted in 2022 but reinstated. Barbabella’s April memo confirmed perfect MoCA, omitting CVI until July photos.