Former White House physician Dr. Jonathan Reiner criticized President Donald Trump this week for repeatedly boasting about passing a cognitive screening exam, which helps identify dementia. He stated that a sitting President should not treat this type of test as a badge of honor.
Reiner made these remarks after Trump claimed during a White House appearance that he was “the only President that ever took a cognitive test” and had taken it three times. Trump also expressed a desire for future presidents and vice presidents to take similar exams.
The test in question is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA. This screening tool helps detect mild cognitive impairment and other forms of cognitive decline. It is not an IQ test. The official MoCA site states the exam is meant for early detection of cognitive issues and measures functions including memory, attention, language, and executive function.
According to The Daily Beast’s report on Reiner’s comments, the CNN medical analyst said Trump should stop boasting about passing an exam that includes basic tasks, such as identifying an animal and performing serial subtraction. Reiner pointed out that celebrating success on a screening tool meant to check for impairment sends an odd message for a president.
On X, Reiner wrote the following in direct response to a clip of the President’s comment. “If I were one of the President’s advisers, I would beg him to stop bragging about doing well on a dementia screening tool which requires the patient to identify a camel and subtract 7 from 100,” Reiner said:
“I do agree that all candidates for POTUS should have comprehensive physical exams, and the data should be made public. The President’s next annual comprehensive examination is due next month.”
If I were one of the president’s advisers I would beg him to stop bragging about doing well on a dementia screening tool which requires the patient to identify a camel and subtract 7 from 100. I do agree that all candidates for POTUS should have comprehensive physical exams, and… https://t.co/HLEGsulbWm
— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) March 26, 2026
Trump has relied on the cognitive exam for years when discussing his health. In his most recent comments, aired Thursday on CNN, he again pointed to the test as proof of his fitness and suggested that others seeking the presidency should be required to take it too.
The White House has previously highlighted Trump’s score on the exam. In a memorandum dated April 13, 2025, White House physician Capt. Sean Barbabella stated that Trump underwent his annual physical at Walter Reed and scored 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
Barbabella reported that Trump remained in “excellent cognitive and physical health” and was “fully fit” to perform the duties of the presidency.
Trump: “I’m the only president that ever took a cognitive test. I took it 3 times. It’s actually a very hard test for a lot of people. It wasn’t hard for me. It starts off with an easy question and by the time you get to the middle it gets tougher — mathematical equations and… pic.twitter.com/4FFivCvytA
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 26, 2026
This memo provided Trump with new material for an argument he has made repeatedly in public, especially as age and fitness questions have followed both major parties in recent election cycles.
However, Reiner’s criticism centered less on the result itself and more on Trump’s choice to keep referencing it. For Reiner, the problem is that the exam is meant to screen for impairment, not to prove superior intelligence.
When Trump made the comments, he took the opportunity to criticize California Gov. Gavin Newsom for his dyslexia and discussed the qualities a president should have. During this exchange, he stated he did not want a “stupid person” serving as president before shifting back to his own cognitive test results.
Trump’s public messaging about his health follows a familiar pattern. While his official physician has described him as fit for office, critics like Reiner argue that boasting about a screening exam may raise more questions than it answers.
