Trump claims perfect cognitive test score, calls for mandatory presidential assessments

President Donald Trump has reportedly been seen nodding off in public on multiple occasions, but argued there is no reason to doubt his fitness for office, with the help of the results of his physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which he described as "extremely good", in a Truth Social post. "I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered extreme intelligence, unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, cognitive test," he added.

Moreover, Trump boasted that it was his fourth consecutive perfect score, 120 correct answers across 120 questions in total, calling the achievement rare and using it to renew his call for mandatory cognitive testing for all presidential and vice-presidential candidates. He urged Congress and Democrats, whom he referred to as "Dumocrats", to enact a law that makes such testing compulsory.

Trump's call lands in a politically charged context: age and mental acuity have dominated discourse since Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race, and Trump's own recent stumbles, from nodding off in public to verbal fumbles, have only intensified scrutiny. The push for mandatory testing is also significant because it would set a formal fitness threshold for the highest office, a standard that does not currently exist and would require an act of Congress for it to become law.

The President's glowing self-assessment has not gone unchallenged. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel weighed in, ridiculing the President's sensitivity about his physical fitness and questioning why he would undergo a third examination in just over a year if there was nothing to worry about. "His brain is a rock," Kimmel quipped. "He's very sensitive about the idea that he's losing it mentally—because that's exactly what he kept saying about Joe Biden," he added.

Kimmel's comments came in the wake of two Truth Social posts in which Trump berated the "fake news media" over their coverage of the Iran war, accusing outlets of spinning what he called Iran's total surrender into a victory for Tehran. Trump alleged that the media had "lost their way and gone crazy," posting the claim first on May 18 and again on May 26. Trump, at 79, is the oldest person in American history to take the presidential oath at his second inauguration in 2025. 

Democratic political commentator Harry Sisson went further, calling for invoking the 25th Amendment, which sets out the formal procedure for replacing a president in the event of death, removal, resignation, or incapacitation. Sisson's call reflects broader public sentiment: nearly 59 percent of Americans believe Trump lacks the mental sharpness for office, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.