Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday the department is moving forward with plans to create a $250 bill featuring President Donald Trump’s face.
Bessent confirmed plans that designs are in the works for a $250 banknote bearing Trump’s image during a press briefing on Thursday while filling in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave.
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The Washington Post first reported that political appointees at Treasury have pushed officials at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the agency responsible for designing and producing U.S. currency, to move forward with mockups for a $250 banknote bearing Trump’s image.
The outlet reported that efforts continued even after officials raised concerns about legal and logistical barriers, as federal law permits only deceased people to be depicted on banknotes.
The law prohibiting living people from appearing on paper currency or coins dates back to the 19th century and was designed to prevent the glorification of political leaders. Any effort to place Trump’s face on a circulating bill would likely require congressional action to amend the law.
The push comes more than a year after Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) introduced legislation dubbed the “Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act,” which would direct the Treasury Department to print a new $250 denomination featuring Trump and create an exemption to the law barring such a note.
Bessent said the Treasury is awaiting a legal pathway to create a banknote donning the president’s face, but it is preparing a design should the legislation pass.
“I have two mandates for U.S. currency at present: that no living person can be on U.S. currency, and the currency must say ‘In God we trust,’” Bessent said. “Right now, there is proposed legislation in front of the House, in front of the Senate, to change the first requirement, so that a living person, Donald J. Trump, could be on the $250 bill.”
“It’s all up on Capitol Hill, so at Treasury, we prepare things in advance,” he said. “We have prepared in advance that if the legislation is passed, but we will stick to the law.”
One of the banknote designs included Trump’s face in the center, flanked by his and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s signature. British painter Iain Alexander, who was the royal portrait artist for Queen Elizabeth II, told the Washington Post that he met with the president, who suggested adding the colors of the American flag and a logo for the country’s 250th anniversary.
According to the BEP website, currency designs are “typically made public six to eight months ahead of time for global public education and cash handler education purposes.” BEP said that releasing designs earlier could aid counterfeiters and lead to confusion in commerce, and concepts are not released earlier for similar reasons.
Creating a new denomination would involve several layers of federal approval. Congress would likely need to authorize a new denomination, while the Treasury Department, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Federal Reserve would play roles in determining whether such a note would be practical, secure, and economically necessary.
The United States has not introduced a new circulating paper denomination in decades, and higher-value bills such as the $500 and $1,000 notes were discontinued in 1969 due to limited use.
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The effort also follows broader Trump-related currency initiatives during his second term. The Treasury this year said that Trump’s signature would appear on some commemorative U.S. currency for the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Separately, a Trump-appointed federal arts panel approved plans for a commemorative gold coin bearing the president’s likeness, a proposal that has drawn criticism and legal scrutiny.
