Trump's doctor says he 'has absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever'
- White House doctor Ronny Jackson said President Donald Trump urged him to take a cognitive test as a part of his annual physical.
- Jackson said Trump had a perfect score on the test.
- The information comes as the debate over Trump's mental stability has reached a fever pitch.
White House doctor Ronny Jackson told reporters during a Tuesday press briefing that President Donald Trump requested to take a cognitive test as a part of his annual physical last week, and he passed it with flying colors.
The information comes just days after the debate over Trump's mental fitness for office reached a fever pitch, with Trump declaring himself a "very stable genius" after the publication of Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which painted a much different picture of the president.
Initially, the White House said such a test would not be a part of the president's physical.
"The president came to me and said 'is there something we can do?'" Jackson told reporters, later adding that the idea that Trump is mentally unwell has "been the narrative for a while."
"I think he saw the physical as an opportunity to put some of that to rest," he continued.
Jackson said Trump scored a 30 out of 30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, which is not a psychological evaluation but does test for the early signs of disorders such as Alzheimer's.
"I can reliably say, and the folks in the mental health community would back me up on that, that if he had some type of mental cognitive issue that this test is sensitive enough to pick up on that," Jackson said.
Jackson, who has served as the White House's top doctor in multiple administrations, said that if Trump "had some type of mental, cognitive issues ... he would not have gotten 30out of 30 on the test."
And, based on the time he's spent with the president, Jackson said Trump "has absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever."
Jackson said he had no plans to perform the cognitive test ahead of the examination as a result of his personal understanding of Trump, but that Trump urged him to do so.
"The president is mentally very sharp, very intact," Jackson said, adding that Trump is "fit for duty" following a question about the 25th Amendment, a constitutional mechanism that includes a provision for removing an unfit president from office.
Some of Trump's supporters took to Twitter after Jackson's remarks to criticize prior coverage of the president's mental stability.
"Now that a REAL doctor says @realDonaldTrump is physically and MENTALLY healthy will the dime store doctors on Morning Joke and CNN apologize for their FAKE NEWS diagnosis?" former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee wrote. "Don't hold your breath! But I hope the media medical mob will hold theirs!"