WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department announced that President Trump’s signature will appear on newly printed dollar bills — a first in American history — ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary.
“There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
Treasurer Brandon Beach, whose name will be omitted to make way for Trump’s own, added: “Printing his signature on the American currency is not only appropriate, but also well deserved.”
The Treasury Department issued its press release about an hour after Vanity Fair reported Trump’s signature would appear on “all denominations of US dollar bills.”
Reuters reported that $100 bills with Trump’s signature will be printed in June — in time for the July 4 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence — with other bills coming in subsequent months.
The federal government began issuing paper currency in 1861.
The surprise announcement comes after the US Commission of Fine Arts last week approved Trump’s image to appear on a commemorative gold coin of an unspecified denomination — with reports suggesting it may land on a coin larger than an ounce, which is used for the Golden Eagle.
There are additional plans for circulating $1 coin featuring the president’s face, but that proposal has run into legal issues due to the Thayer Amendment of 1866, which states, “Only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
Trump also recently attached his name to the US Institute of Peace’s building and to the recently rebranded Trump-Kennedy Center performing arts venue in Washington.
Critics of Trump’s effort to immortalize himself on currency argue it’s contrary to America’s democratic traditions.
Washington Post art critic Philip Kennicott likened the push to Julius Caesar’s decision to mint his face on a coin in 44 B.C. before being assassinated by senators fearful he would turn the Roman Republic into a monarchy.
