Donald Trump is about to put his signature on U.S. dollars. The Treasury Department said this will happen later this year to mark America’s 250th anniversary.
He will be the first sitting president to have his John Hancock on paper currency. His signature will appear alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. That means the U.S. treasurer, whose name has been on bills for over a century, will disappear from the notes.
“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,” Bessent said.
Trump is clearly leaving his mark everywhere.
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Since returning to the White House, he has pushed for a one-dollar coin with his face. He has proposed a 24-karat gold coin. His name was added to the Kennedy Center. The administration wants to rename Dulles Airport after him. And millions of stimulus checks during his first term already carried his signature.
This is unusual. Presidents rarely have their names on money while in office. The tradition of signatures goes back to Lincoln in 1861. The Treasury secretary and treasurer first signed together in 1914. But Trump’s move is unprecedented.
Brandon Beach, Trump’s treasurer, praised the plan. “The president’s mark on history as the architect of America’s Golden Age economic revival is undeniable. Printing his signature on the American currency is not only appropriate, but also well deserved,” he said.
Some experts are skeptical. Larry Felix, former director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, called it “unusual” but noted that these bills could become collector items. Future Treasury secretaries might remove Trump’s signature, making the first ones rare.
Controversy is likely.
During Obama’s administration, Harriet Tubman was supposed to appear on the $20 bill, but that stalled. Senator Jeanne Shaheen criticized Trump’s plan. “The President’s insistence on plastering his name on bills, coins and national monuments while in office flies in the face of our country’s ideals,” she said. “We should celebrate our 250th anniversary by uplifting the heroic figures who have made our nation what it is today – not fueling yet another vanity project for the sitting president.”
Even Republicans have doubts. Douglas Holtz-Eakin said, “This may be the ultimate act of futility,” pointing out that fewer Americans are using cash.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
