President Trump needled former President Joe Biden after his annual physical on Friday, claiming to have aced a cognitive test that his octogenarian predecessor refused to take.
The medical check-up — the first one of Trump’s second term — took place at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
The president spent roughly five hours at the hospital before boarding Air Force One for a weekend trip to Palm Beach, Fla.
“I wanted to be a little different than Biden,” Trump told reporters aboard the presidential plane. “I took a cognitive test.”
“I don’t know what to tell you other than I got every answer right,” the president quipped.
Last year, as public concern over Biden’s mental acuity mounted, the White House insisted that the then-president didn’t “need a cognitive test.”
“That is not my assessment, that is the assessment of the president’s doctor, that is also the assessment of his neurologist,” former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last February.
“He passes a cognitive test every day,” Jean-Pierre said of Biden — days after former special counsel Robert Hur’s report on the president’s handling of classified documents flagged his “poor memory.”
In his first interview after his disastrous June 2024 debate against Trump, Biden ruled out submitting to a cognitive evaluation.
“I get a full neurological test every day with me and I’ve had a full physical,” Biden told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
“I had, you know, I mean — I’ve been at Walter Reed for my physicals. I mean, yes,” he added.
Trump, 78, did not divulge specifics about the particular mental exam he took, other than saying, “I think it’s a pretty well-known test.“
“I’ve taken the cognitive test I think four times and I’ve got nothing wrong. That’s what the American people want,” the president declared.
“Biden refused to take it. Kamala refused to take it … But I don’t refuse to take it,” he added.
The president indicated that he believes the results of his physical will be released on Sunday.
“Overall, I felt I was in very good shape,” Trump said of his check-up.“Good heart. A good soul. Very good soul.”
