Overview
- The Treasury Department, which announced Thursday that new notes will carry President Trump’s signature, said $100 bills begin printing in June with other denominations to follow.
- It is the first time a sitting U.S. president’s name will appear on paper currency, breaking a practice that left only the Treasury secretary and the treasurer on bills and avoided honoring living elected leaders.
- A week earlier, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved a commemorative gold coin bearing Trump’s effigy after the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee refused to consider the project in February.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach said the change suits the nation’s 250th anniversary and credits Trump’s economic record, while Democratic lawmakers and heritage advocates call it a personality cult.
- The currency change and the coin advance a broader effort to place Trump’s name on public symbols, including renaming Washington’s Kennedy Center and moving to rename Palm Beach’s airport, alongside contentious White House renovations.