Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Miles Archer

(23,069 posts)
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 04:35 PM Dec 2025

Psychologist: THREE Cognitive Tests means you're monitoring dementia, not assessing it

Trump’s boasts about passing cognitive tests suggest he’s being monitored for the progression of dementia, one psychologist says.

Dr. John Gartner told The Daily Beast Podcast that the 79-year-old president’s claim to have “aced” three Montreal Cognitive Assessments could be more than simple routine screenings for the degenerative disease.

“You know, he kind of gave the game away again, as he often does,” Gartner, a former professor at Johns Hopkins, told co-host Joanna Coles about Trump claiming to have passed a test in front of “large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know.”

“You could maybe justify giving someone the MoCA once, just on their age, just as part of a physical. If you’re giving it to him three times, that means you’re not assessing dementia. That means you’re monitoring dementia,” Gartner said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-mental-decline-is-accelerating-psychologist/

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Psychologist: THREE Cognitive Tests means you're monitoring dementia, not assessing it (Original Post) Miles Archer Dec 2025 OP
So we really need cognitive tests to monitor his dementia? dem4decades Dec 2025 #1
Yes -- especially if he's taking medication for it Rocknation Dec 2025 #8
I meant his cognitive decline is in plain sight. dem4decades Dec 2025 #16
We may recognize it, but prodessionals need to monitor for the reasons OP mentions. marble falls Dec 2025 #29
Why bother, they never say anything. Trump's 6'4" , 239 pounds, his doctor said so. dem4decades Dec 2025 #34
Yes meds might need adjusting or outright changing dsc Dec 2025 #11
Also he thinks it's something to brag about bucolic_frolic Dec 2025 #2
Because he claims they are IQ tests. What an imbecile. n/t iluvtennis Dec 2025 #12
Doubt he knows what the word cognitive means. He evidently just learned what the allegorical oracle Dec 2025 #13
I suspect that his handlers have to tell him these cognitive tests are IQ tests to get him to perform them Niagara Dec 2025 #24
My first thought after reading the OP. marble falls Dec 2025 #30
Yep. n/t iluvtennis Dec 2025 #36
Tangential to the article and completely anecdotal, markodochartaigh Dec 2025 #3
It's being done so they can bill for it.🤬 Phoenix61 Dec 2025 #9
I'm wondering, since it was done by the nurse aide, markodochartaigh Dec 2025 #21
Administered by the nurse by the results were assessed Phoenix61 Dec 2025 #22
Well, it was the nurse aide who administered the test. markodochartaigh Dec 2025 #23
I didn't mean my previous comment to be snappy. markodochartaigh Dec 2025 #26
No doubt, I'm an LCSW but get called Doctor on Phoenix61 Dec 2025 #37
Every piece of evidence is anecdotal by itself. There's nothing inherently wrong with anecdote. You asked a ... marble falls Dec 2025 #31
Hw couldn't pass the DU membership qualifying exam. 😎 usonian Dec 2025 #4
MONITORING dementia means you HAVE dementia Rocknation Dec 2025 #5
Trumps the most cognitive person ever... lame54 Dec 2025 #6
It's yuge! marble falls Dec 2025 #32
Yes, I've had it as part of a physical. ananda Dec 2025 #7
I have no medical training whatever, but even I can understand that. My post ... eppur_se_muova Dec 2025 #10
Isn't this test the same one all of us on Medicare take once a year during our wellness exam? Cheezoholic Dec 2025 #14
I had the doctor's aide ask me to draw a clock and remember a few words at my last wellness appt. Katinfl Dec 2025 #15
It was on mine recently. I am 63 and considered disabled. Not sure if that has anything to do with it. Cheezoholic Dec 2025 #19
I put the 12 at the top then did 3, 6, 9 and filled in the rest. Easy. Katinfl Dec 2025 #25
With digital clocks and watches being standard today, this test spooky3 Dec 2025 #28
They asked me to put in the sweep hand and locked me up when I put a broom on my clock face! marble falls Dec 2025 #33
Just effin croak malaise Dec 2025 #17
It takes effort to not wish death on this one individual. I have to fight with it every day. I do want him in prison. .. marble falls Dec 2025 #35
That was generous TNNurse Dec 2025 #18
His repeatedly telling us about them... relayerbob Dec 2025 #20
I wondered why there were so many "tests". marble falls Dec 2025 #27

Rocknation

(45,006 posts)
8. Yes -- especially if he's taking medication for it
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 05:51 PM
Dec 2025

which can have the possible side effects of your brain swelling or bleeding.

P.S. Two dementia medications in particular are administered intravenously, which might explain the bruising on that back of his hands.

More


Rocknation

allegorical oracle

(6,453 posts)
13. Doubt he knows what the word cognitive means. He evidently just learned what the
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 07:08 PM
Dec 2025

word "sycophant" means, but he mispronounced it as SYNCophants".

Niagara

(11,801 posts)
24. I suspect that his handlers have to tell him these cognitive tests are IQ tests to get him to perform them
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 10:26 PM
Dec 2025

I'm banking they tell him what a great job he did, how smart he is and then he repeats what they tell him.


If his handlers didn't lie to him he most likely wouldn't perform these tests since he's defiant and has a terrible temperament.


It's similar to having a young child and getting them to complete tasks and to insure they behave themselves.

markodochartaigh

(5,523 posts)
3. Tangential to the article and completely anecdotal,
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 05:01 PM
Dec 2025

my sister mentioned having been given the MoCA by a nurse's aide while waiting for her primary care physician. Although she is 66 there was no other clinical indication for the test. The practice has recently adopted a more efficient model and requires patients to be in the room thirty minutes before the appointment or the appointment is rescheduled. This is in Amarillo and I wonder if the MoCA is being done so that patients can say that they got the same test as Trump.

markodochartaigh

(5,523 posts)
21. I'm wondering, since it was done by the nurse aide,
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 07:31 PM
Dec 2025

if they can bill for it. My sister's primary care physician is a personal friend, but the practice has undergone a transition towards improved profitability.

Phoenix61

(18,823 posts)
22. Administered by the nurse by the results were assessed
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 09:36 PM
Dec 2025

by the doctor. Not saying that’s what happened but…

markodochartaigh

(5,523 posts)
23. Well, it was the nurse aide who administered the test.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 09:50 PM
Dec 2025

My sister is a nurse practitioner, so she is well able to identify a nurse aide.

markodochartaigh

(5,523 posts)
26. I didn't mean my previous comment to be snappy.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 10:37 PM
Dec 2025

I'm a registered nurse and I vividly remember a doctor giving detailed orders on a critically ill patient to a nurse aide who had only the most rudimentary English fluency. Fortunately I was listening to the whole episode. It is a valid point to observe that sometimes health care workers may not be properly identified by patients or others.

Phoenix61

(18,823 posts)
37. No doubt, I'm an LCSW but get called Doctor on
Mon Dec 22, 2025, 12:04 AM
Dec 2025

occasion. When that happens I do some education on the difference between a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and an LCSW.

marble falls

(71,855 posts)
31. Every piece of evidence is anecdotal by itself. There's nothing inherently wrong with anecdote. You asked a ...
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 11:03 PM
Dec 2025

... a good question based on your anecdote!

usonian

(25,103 posts)
4. Hw couldn't pass the DU membership qualifying exam. 😎
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 05:13 PM
Dec 2025

You know what he passed?



This.

After three hours.

With a hammer.

Rocknation

(45,006 posts)
5. MONITORING dementia means you HAVE dementia
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 05:42 PM
Dec 2025

Having dementia while a U.S. president means that you've GOT to go, and IMMEDIATELY. And CONCEALING that you have dementia because you're a U.S. president who wants to CONTINUE to be a U.S. President means that you've got to go DIRECTLY TO JAIL.


Rocknation

ananda

(35,079 posts)
7. Yes, I've had it as part of a physical.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 05:44 PM
Dec 2025

It was no problem, though I know I have some
cognitive decline due to age.

Cheezoholic

(3,708 posts)
14. Isn't this test the same one all of us on Medicare take once a year during our wellness exam?
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 07:11 PM
Dec 2025

Wonder what his clock looks like lol

Katinfl

(791 posts)
15. I had the doctor's aide ask me to draw a clock and remember a few words at my last wellness appt.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 07:15 PM
Dec 2025

First time ever. So you say it is now part of a Medicare thing? I am 78.

Cheezoholic

(3,708 posts)
19. It was on mine recently. I am 63 and considered disabled. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 07:25 PM
Dec 2025

Its why I asked. I was surprised as it was my first one. And when asked to draw the clock I was surprised as I put 1 at the top then just before I put 2 I paused and put the 2 next to the 1 lol. Little slippage there but I hadn't drawn a clock in maybe 50 years lol.

Katinfl

(791 posts)
25. I put the 12 at the top then did 3, 6, 9 and filled in the rest. Easy.
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 10:33 PM
Dec 2025

Then she had me do the time 10:50. I looked at my watch because I did not remember which was the minute hand, etc. Of course I can tell time, but when was the last time you had to draw a picture of one? I cheated and looked at my wristwatch , lol. Next time I will remember.

spooky3

(38,586 posts)
28. With digital clocks and watches being standard today, this test
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 10:58 PM
Dec 2025

IMHO has a different meaning than it would have had 10+ years ago.

marble falls

(71,855 posts)
33. They asked me to put in the sweep hand and locked me up when I put a broom on my clock face!
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 11:07 PM
Dec 2025

marble falls

(71,855 posts)
35. It takes effort to not wish death on this one individual. I have to fight with it every day. I do want him in prison. ..
Sun Dec 21, 2025, 11:10 PM
Dec 2025

... Real prison, like they did to Bernie Madoff, the Enron crooks, and John Gotti.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Psychologist: THREE Cogni...