Doctor raises red flag on Trump's repeated bragging about passing cognitive test

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding Marine One upon departure for New York, in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Dr. Rob Davidson, who heads the Committee to Protect Healthcare and has administered the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, expressed concern about President Donald Trump's public statements regarding the screening test. Davidson appeared on former CNN reporter Jim Acosta's show this week to discuss Trump's repeated claims that he has passed the assessment multiple times.

According to Davidson, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is not a routine evaluation administered to all patients. Instead, it is specifically ordered when a healthcare provider or family member has raised concerns about possible cognitive decline. Typically, the test is administered once and does not need to be repeated.

"It is just not typical, right?" Davidson said. "It isn't typical. It isn't what you would just generally do for any individual when you didn't have a concern."

The MoCA screening is designed to detect mild cognitive impairment rather than measure general intelligence or identify advanced dementia. Davidson characterized it as an assessment for individuals who might be "slipping a little bit" and whose family members or physicians have begun to notice changes. It is not a standard test for healthy adults and is not intended to be taken repeatedly for public validation purposes.

While Davidson declined to diagnose Trump remotely, citing ethical concerns, he acknowledged that the president's public behavior raised questions in his professional assessment.

"I won't make a diagnosis, we don't, it's not ethical to try to diagnose somebody," Davidson said. "And I don't know if the president has a condition, but something just seems not right."

Davidson also highlighted the unusual nature of Trump's pattern of repeatedly requesting and publicly discussing his MoCA results. White House physicians typically do not repeatedly administer the same cognitive screening test to a patient absent clinical concerns, Davidson noted. Trump's apparent desire to continue taking the test is itself noteworthy, he said.

Acosta administered the test on camera during the segment to illustrate the broader concern. After completing the assessment on air, Acosta expressed increased concern about the president's condition.

Trump's medical history has been the subject of ongoing public scrutiny.

During his first term, his then-physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, declared Trump in "excellent" health following a comprehensive physical examination. However, medical professionals and observers have raised questions about whether a single positive assessment should be sufficient to establish overall fitness for office, particularly given the demands of the presidency.

The Trump White House has released limited additional medical records since that initial evaluation, making independent verification of his current health status difficult.

Medical ethicists have noted that the public nature of Trump's repeated MoCA test-taking represents an unusual approach to cognitive screening, which is typically conducted in private consultation between a patient and their physician. Some health experts have suggested that the frequent public discussion of cognitive assessments may itself warrant evaluation, as repeated testing and public proclamations about results can occasionally indicate underlying concerns that prompted the initial screening.

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