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FalsePoliticsLast updated: June 1, 2026

Donald Trump Has A Very High IQ

The claim that Donald Trump has a very high IQ is common in political debates, but there is no verified public IQ test result to support it. His own professor at Wharton reportedly called him the 'dumbest student' he ever had, classmates remembered him as unprepared and disengaged, and Trump himself confused a basic cognitive screening test with an IQ test.

What we know

The claim that Donald Trump has a very high IQ usually appears as vague assertions that he is 'a genius' or 'very smart', or as unsupported claims that his IQ is a specific number, often 156 or similar. None of these numbers are backed by a verifiable, independently published IQ test. They circulate as memes, unattributed quotes, or partisan graphics rather than traceable primary sources.

Trump himself has repeatedly described his intelligence in elevated terms, frequently invoking his degree from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania as proof. In a 2015 speech in Phoenix he said, 'I went to the Wharton School of Finance. I'm, like, a really smart person', and he has made similar statements dozens of times since. However, his former classmates and teachers paint a different picture.

Professor William T. Kelley, who taught Trump at Wharton, reportedly told his close friend Frank DiPrima on more than 100 separate occasions over three decades that 'Donald Trump was the dumbest goddam student I ever had.' DiPrima noted that Kelley would emphasise this assessment repeatedly and that Kelley specifically mentioned Trump's arrogance and his attitude that 'he already knew everything.' Kelley made these remarks after Trump became a celebrity but long before he became a political figure, which reduces the likelihood that they were politically motivated.

Classmates echo this account. Steve Perelman, a 1968 Wharton classmate and former Daily Pennsylvanian editor, stated, 'He was not in any kind of leadership. I certainly doubt he was the smartest guy in the class.' Louis Calomaris, another classmate, described Trump as 'loath to really study much', coming to seminars unprepared and not seeming to care about being ready. The Daily Pennsylvanian published a list of 56 Dean's List students for the 1967-68 school year - Trump's name is not among them. Of 366 listed 1968 Wharton graduates, the Dean's List represented roughly the top 15 percent of the class. Trump's name also does not appear among any cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude recipients, directly contradicting his repeated claim that he graduated 'top of his class'.

His biographer Gwenda Blair wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton through a 'special favour' from a 'friendly' admissions officer known to Trump's older brother Freddy, which raises further questions about the premise that Wharton admission alone proves exceptional intelligence.

Beyond his university years, Trump's public confusion between a basic cognitive test and an IQ test is itself revealing. On October 27, 2025, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had taken an 'IQ test' at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and achieved a perfect result, challenging Democratic representatives to take the same exam. He described it as 'very hard' and said questions involved identifying animals like tigers, elephants and giraffes. In reality, the test he described was the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a 10-to-15-minute screening tool designed to detect early signs of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Neurologist Ziad Nasreddine, who developed the MoCA, has stated clearly: 'There are no studies showing that this test is correlated to IQ tests. The purpose of it was not to determine persons who have a low IQ level.' Treating a pass on a dementia screen as proof of exceptional intelligence reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how both cognitive health screening and intelligence testing work.

None of this constitutes a verified IQ score. But the combined weight of professor testimony, classmate accounts, missing academic honours, questions about how he was admitted, and his own confusion about what a cognitive test measures all point in the same direction: the claim that Trump has a verified very high IQ is not supported by any credible evidence.

Common claims

  • Donald Trump has an IQ of 156 (or another specific high number).False
  • Trump graduated top of his class at Wharton.False - his name does not appear on the 1968 Dean's List or among any honours graduates
  • His Wharton professor called him the dumbest student he ever had.Supported by multiple independent accounts
  • Trump passed a cognitive test, which proves he has a high IQ.False - the Montreal Cognitive Assessment is a dementia screening tool, not an IQ test
  • Trump was admitted to Wharton on his own merit.Disputed - his biographer documented a special favour from an admissions officer

Evidence hierarchy

01Professor William T. Kelley's repeated assessment of TrumpKelley told his close friend Frank DiPrima over 100 times that Trump was 'the dumbest goddam student I ever had', citing his arrogance and belief that he already knew everything. Kelley taught marketing at Wharton for 31 years before retiring in 1982.02Trump's name absent from the 1968 Wharton Dean's List and honours listsThe Daily Pennsylvanian published the 1967-68 Dean's List with 56 names. Trump's name does not appear there, nor among cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude recipients in the 1968 commencement programme.03Wharton classmates describe Trump as unprepared and not a leaderClassmates including Stephen Foxman, Steve Perelman and Louis Calomaris described Trump as disengaged, unprepared and not among the strongest students. Foxman said he recognised virtually all names on the Dean's List and Trump was not one of them.04Trump admitted to Wharton with help from a family friendAccording to The Washington Post and biographer Gwenda Blair, Trump's transfer from Fordham to Wharton was facilitated by a friendly admissions officer known to his brother Freddy, not purely on academic merit.05Trump mistakes Montreal Cognitive Assessment for an IQ testOn October 27, 2025, Trump publicly described taking an 'IQ test' at Walter Reed. Experts confirmed it was the MoCA dementia screening. The test's developer Ziad Nasreddine stated explicitly it is not correlated to IQ tests.

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