Overview
- Senior Treasury appointees asked the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce mockups showing President Trump’s portrait and signature, and Secretary Scott Bessent publicly defended preparing the designs in case Congress acts.
- No production has begun because federal law dating to 1866 bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency and a new $250 denomination would need specific congressional authorization.
- A bill to authorize a commemorative $250 note was introduced in February 2025 but has not advanced in committee, leaving the proposal stalled in Congress.
- BEP staff warned that creating a new denomination would require years of security testing and machine-compatibility work, and the bureau’s director was reassigned after raising procedural objections.
- The plan has prompted partisan pushback and competing legislation that could trigger legal challenges and a prolonged congressional fight over whether a sitting president may appear on new U.S. paper money.