'Force them to take it': Trump demands brain tests for presidential candidates, even as Hegseth forced to defend his 'mental stability'

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Apr 30) insisted that anyone seeking the US presidency or vice presidency must be "forced to take a Cognitive Examination", arguing it would prevent candidates he deemed unfit from reaching the Oval Office. He also used the opportunity to remind everyone he had passed such a test three times and slam his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The post landed the same week Trump's own mental fitness was the subject of a pointed congressional exchange. Just a day earlier, on Wednesday (Apr 29) Trump's Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was grilled in Congress over President Donald Trump's "unhinged" social media rants and was pointedly questioned if the POTUS was "mentally stable enough commander-in-chief".

Trump's 'Cognitive Examination' rant

Taking to Truth Social, Trump demanded that "Anybody running for President or Vice President should be forced to take a Cognitive Examination prior to entering the Race!". He also name-checked Barack Obama and Joe Biden as examples of leaders he implied would have failed. "By doing so, we wouldn’t be surprised at people like Barack 'Hussein' Obama, or Sleepy Joe Biden, getting 'ELECTED.' Our Country would be a much better place!"

He added that he had taken the test three times across his terms in office and "ACED IT ALL THREE TIMES," describing it as an achievement that, according to doctors, had "rarely been done before."

Trump aide grilled for POTUS's unhinged posts

Trump's latest social media rant comes just a day after Hegseth was questioned in Congress about a variety of things, including whether Trump was a "stable enough" POTUS. At a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday (Apr 29), Democrat Sara Jacobs asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directly whether Trump was "mentally stable enough" to serve as commander-in-chief.

Hegseth deflected to Biden before defending the president. "I won't even engage with the level of disparagement that you're putting on the commander-in-chief," he said. "He's the sharpest and most insightful commander-in-chief we've had in generations."

Jacobs pressed further, noting that concerns about Trump's behaviour were not limited to Democrats. She also raised Trump's AI-generated image depicting him as a Jesus-like figure with healing hands, a post the president later deleted and explained by saying it was meant to show him "as a doctor making people better."