Why Trump wants the Treasury to stop minting the penny

By Elaine Mallon

Published February 10, 2025 2:16pm ET

On Sunday evening, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would cease minting pennies, calling the coin “wasteful.”

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”