President Trump on Wednesday boasted that he had the mental acuity to resolve escalating tensions with North Korea and succeed where his immediate predecessors had failed.

“I guess they all realized they were going to have to leave it to a president that scored the highest on tests,” Trump told Reuters, referring to Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Oh wow. Trump, in new interview, says Obama, Bush and Clinton must have left him the North Korea problem because they knew he had the best brain, as evidenced by his score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. https://t.co/R3oPvUsZJr pic.twitter.com/BWGPShs12S — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 17, 2018



Trump's crowing comes one day after White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson announced the president scored 30/30 on a cognitive assessment examination taken during a check-up.

Trump had insisted Jackson perform the test after anecdotes published in Michael Wolff's tell-all book, Fire and Fury, insinuated his mental capacity was deteriorating.

Trump regularly touts his intelligence, often reminding reporters he attended the Ivy League via the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and had a high IQ.

Trump also told Reuters Russia's work with the North Koreans had effectively erased some of the leverage gained by China's refusal to collaborate with them.