Donald Trump's administration officials have repeatedly pressed the nation's currency printers to create a $250 bill bearing the President's image, despite a 159-year-old federal law prohibiting living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency. Treasury Department officials, including U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser Mike Brown, have urged staff at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce prototypes, according to four current and former employees who spoke to the Washington Post.
Legal and Procedural Hurdles
Workers have raised alarms because federal law has banned living people from appearing on physical money since 1866. Beach handed mock-ups to bureau staff in August and September, showing Trump's portrait in the center, his signature on the left, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's autograph on the other side. British painter Iain Alexander, who designed the mock-up, said it was endorsed by the President. 'He likes to call me his favorite British artist,' Alexander told the Post.
A bill allowing Trump's portrait on banknotes to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary was introduced in Congress last year but has stalled. Bureau director Patricia 'Patty' Solimene was abruptly reassigned on April 27 after warning Beach and Brown about the legal complications. 'She had told them we're not authorized to do this. We can't progress any further, and all the stakeholders have not even met to discuss the next steps,' an employee told the Post. 'Currency often takes six to eight years to produce a new bill, particularly one of such high value.'
Director's Reassignment
In an email to colleagues, Solimene wrote that it was with a 'heavy heart' that she was leaving and that it was 'not my choice.' She added that she had 'never sacrificed the values or character of myself or the organization and always prioritized the US Currency Program and the value each employee brings to the mission.' 'The buck stopped here,' she concluded in the email obtained by the Post. Solimene, a 24-year Army veteran, had been the bureau's first female director.
Bessent's Defense
Bessent on Thursday pushed back against the Post's reporting during a White House press briefing, filling in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt who is on maternity leave. 'Terribly written, terribly edited,' he said, holding the news article aloft. Bessent defended his staff, saying they had created the note but were 'following the law' and were 'prepared for everything if [the bill] gets passed.' 'You can't draw something up the day before,' Bessent said.
Designing and printing a new note requires coordination with the Federal Reserve, Secret Service, and private companies even with congressional authorization, said Larry Felix, a former bureau director. It took more than a decade to produce a $100 note with anti-counterfeiting security features, he told the Post. 'These guys think you can just print something overnight and it's going to work in an ATM. It's just crazy,' an employee told the Post. 'It takes years and years and years to produce these notes so they are reliable for the public.'
The Trump administration effort coincides with other patriotic announcements to commemorate America's founding, including a 250ft triumphal arch, dubbed the Arc de Trump, planned for Arlington National Cemetery.
