President Donald Trump bragged that his mental capabilities at 79 years old likely surpassed those of former President Barack Obama, who is 15 years his junior at 64 years old.
Speaking to a crowd at The Villages in Florida, Trump laid into Democratic critics from Obama to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to even former President Joe Biden. Trump specifically singled out Newsom, 58, for saying “he can’t read, he can’t write.”
“We should give him a cognitive test,” Trump said of Newsom. “I took three of them. Aced all of them, by the way. You know, I’m the only president, I’m the only president to take a cognitive test, because I don’t think Obama could pass it.”
“Didn’t he get into Harvard with a C average?” Trump continued. “I don’t think he could pass it. I don’t think, well, Biden … give me a break.”
Trump became the oldest president to be inaugurated last year at 78 years old and seven months, even older than Biden, who was 78 years old and two months when he was inaugurated in January 2020.
Both Trump and Biden faced heavy questions during the 2024 campaign about their ability to handle another four years in office. Biden would eventually exit the race after a disastrous June 2024 debate showcased his cognitive struggles to the nation. Obama, however, was just 47 when he was inaugurated in January 2009 and 55 when he left the White House in 2017.
Trump has repeatedly bragged that he has passed cognitive tests, even as he disclosed to reporters in October 2025 that he had a “perfect” MRI amid questions related to why he underwent two annual physical examinations last year.
“The White House Doctors have just reported that I am in ‘PERFECT HEALTH,’ and that I ‘ACED’ (Meaning, was correct on 100% of the questions asked!), for the third straight time, my Cognitive Examination, something which no other President, or previous Vice President, was willing to take,” Trump wrote on social media in January.
In April 2025, Trump said he believed he “got every answer right” on a cognitive test he took as part of a four-hour physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center conducted by his personal doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella.
“I took a cognitive test that I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right,” Trump said.
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Trump’s comments in Florida come one day after he blasted the former Democratic presidents on Truth Social.
“Anybody running for President or Vice President should be forced to take a Cognitive Examination prior to entering the Race!” he wrote. “By doing so, we wouldn’t be surprised at people like Barack ‘Hussein’ Obama, or Sleepy Joe Biden, getting ‘ELECTED.’ ”
