Legislation that would place Donald Trump’s image on a new $250 bill is drawing scrutiny from lawmakers and raising legal concerns inside the very government agency that would be tasked with printing it.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Thursday that the proposal is currently before both chambers of Congress. “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 a $250 bill,” he told reporters at a media briefing.
Federal law has long prohibited the depiction of living individuals on American currency, a restriction that has held for roughly 150 years. Bessent argued the plan was defensible, framing it around the country’s upcoming semiquincentennial. “I don’t think that there’s anything untoward about having the President of the United States, the person who’s president of the United States, on the 250th anniversary bill,” he said, adding that the Treasury Department would “stick to the law” pending congressional action.
Behind the scenes, the push has not been without friction. Employees at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, said two Trump-appointed Treasury officials began pressuring staff last year to develop prototypes. Bureau director Patricia Solimene reportedly resisted, flagging legal and procedural barriers to senior officials including US Treasurer Brandon Beach. She was subsequently removed from her position, the Post reported.
A Treasury spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that the bureau is conducting planning and due diligence in response to the proposal, while clarifying that Beach had not directed staff to print the note ahead of any congressional approval. A design mock-up seen by the Post featured the phrase “America 250 anniversary,” a reference to the US declaration of independence on July 4, 1776.
The bill itself was introduced in Congress last year but has not advanced. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat on the Senate banking committee, criticized the move as the White House blatantly “stoking the president’s ego.”
The currency proposal is one of several efforts by the Trump administration to attach the president’s name or likeness to public institutions. Both the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the US Institute of Peace have been rebranded to include Trump’s name, and his image appears on banners at the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture.
