First he ordered up a commemorative coin bearing his face. Then he added his signature to the nation’s money. Now, in honor of America’s 250th birthday, President Trump wants to create a $250 bill featuring a portrait of himself.
The remaking of America’s currency with a new note bearing Mr. Trump’s likeness would be the biggest overhaul to the nation’s money in more than a century. It is also the latest effort by a billionaire president to put his imprint on an economy that he has remade with tax cuts and tariffs. But for Mr. Trump, the addition of his portrait to the greenback would represent something even more consequential: a permanent fusing of his personal brand with the nation’s identity.
The future of the initiative remains uncertain given that the United States has a law that forbids anyone still living from appearing on paper currency. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month that he did not think that there was “anything untoward” about having the current president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill.
The imagery on currency has for years captivated Americans. The movement in 2016 to replace President Andrew Jackson with the abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill stirred a contentious national debate. The prospect of Mr. Trump adding his portrait to the money shows how currency remains an important reflection of America’s identity, even as transactions increasingly become digital.
“Currency designs can be controversial because they are imbued with a sense of national identity, therefore they are consumed with immense passion,” said Shailendra Bhandare, an expert on the history of money at University of Oxford. “In today’s polarized world, this has the potential to become an instant fault line, invoking commentary on the gender, historical role or even appearance of those depicted.”
The Treasury Department confirmed last month that it was working with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on design concepts for a $250 note. Mr. Bessent said the work was being done in preparation for the possibility that Republicans in Congress would pass legislation making it possible for Mr. Trump’s portrait to appear on paper currency.
Top Democrats have said the effort is a pointless initiative aimed at stroking the president’s ego. This week, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, sent a letter to the Treasury Department’s inspector general asking for an investigation into its use of federal money to develop a bill that is currently illegal to produce.
“The fact that Treasury officials have reportedly pursued this effort despite serious legal objections only raises more concerns about Treasury’s misplaced priorities and disregard for our current laws,” they wrote.
No living president has appeared on the nation’s paper currency since Abraham Lincoln’s portrait appeared on a $10 demand note in 1861.
In 1866, Spencer Clark, a Treasury Department official who oversaw the nation’s currency office, caused a national uproar when his own portrait mysteriously appeared on a new 5-cent note. The scandal compelled Congress to pass a law later that year forbidding images of living people from appearing on American paper currency. The blowback was a byproduct of America’s attempt to assert itself as a democracy: Monarchies like Britain routinely adorned their currencies with portraits of their rulers.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved a commemorative, 24-karat gold coin bearing Mr. Trump’s image. That coin also appears to potentially violate the 1866 law stating that “only the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities.”
But the Trump administration appears to be resting its actions in part on the argument that a coin is different from currency or a security. And it benefits from a quirk of the legal system: It is not clear whether anyone would have legal standing to challenge the matter in court.
Mr. Trump appears to have no qualms about breaking the tradition that forbids the living from appearing on money despite criticism that he views himself as a king. In May, he posted a mock-up of a $100 bill with his portrait on the front.
“Rulers always had their visage on currency,” said Stephen Mihm, a University of Georgia professor who writes about the history of currency.
More than 35 former British colonies and territories around the world featured Queen Elizabeth II on their national currencies since 1935. Over the years, some of those, such as New Zealand and South Africa, replaced her with images of their own heroes. Former President Nelson Mandela was added to South Africa’s money in 2012, a year before his death.
In the U.S., currency redesigns typically take many years and follow a specific timeline, one that requires the development of advance security features to combat counterfeiting. In 2016, during the Obama administration, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew tried to enact a major overhaul of the currency by replacing Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman as the face of the $20 bill.
That effort divided the nation during a presidential election year. It eventually stalled during Mr. Trump’s first term, when his first Treasury secretary, Steven T. Mnuchin, said that other notes needed to be redesigned first for security reasons. Despite initially saying that adding Tubman to the $20 would be a priority, the Biden administration also allowed the initiative to languish.
The process of making money requires teams of experienced designers and engravers who etch the plates with portraits, vignettes, lettering and ornamentation. The designs are crafted with both aesthetics and security in mind.
A tool called a pantograph, which has been used for more than a century, scales the engravings so that they can fit on “working plates” and in smaller sizes and printed on the notes that are exchanged around the world.
Minor changes to currency are possible without making changes to the security features. When a new Treasury secretary and treasurer take office, their signatures are digitally captured and engraved on plates that are used for printing new notes.
In March, the Treasury Department announced that Mr. Trump would become the first sitting U.S. president to have his signature on the greenback. His name will replace that of Treasurer Brandon Beach, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Larry Felix, a former director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said that it would not be easy or secure to rush a $250 note into circulation. He pointed out that new technology such as inks and watermarks would need to be developed for the new note, which would be heavily targeted by counterfeiters because of its high value.
“It has to be secure,” Mr. Felix said. “That supply chain cannot be done in a few months.”
Money is not the only thing that Mr. Trump has personally branded during his second term. There is also the “Trump Gold Card” for visa applications, the Trump accounts that are investment funds for children, and the prescription drugs portal TrumpRx.
But for a president who is focused on ensuring that his legacy is indelible, it is hard to top being on the money.
“In ancient Rome, emperors had their portraits on the coinage,” said Jeff Garrett, founder of Mid-American Rare Coin Galleries. “It’s messaging that everyone is going to see. It’s in everyone’s pocket.”
