President Donald Trump could be the first living person in more than 160 years to appear on US paper currency — that is, if current law changes.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed during a press conference on Thursday that his agency has “prepared in advance” to print a $250 bill featuring Trump’s likeness to commemorate the country’s 250th birthday. Bessent said that his agency will move forward if the legislation to change current US law is passed.
“As Treasury Secretary, I have two mandates for US currency. At present, that no living person can be on US currency, and the currency must say, ‘In God We Trust,'” Bessent said. “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 the $250 bill.”
Current US law says only deceased individuals may appear on US currency and securities.
In 1866, Congress passed a measure known as the Thayer Amendment, which barred portraits or likenesses of living people from US bonds, securities, notes, fractional currency, and postal currency. The measure followed a scandal in which the portrait of Spencer M. Clark, a Treasury Department official, was printed on a 5-cent fractional currency note.
In February, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina introduced a bill that would create an exemption in the ban for individuals who served as president.
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s likeness is also set to soon appear on commemorative US coins, and it’s already featured on a $1 million “gold card” visa and a banner installed on the Justice Department headquarters.
In March, the Treasury Department announced that Trump’s signature will appear on future US paper currency, breaking with long-standing tradition in which US banknotes carry the signatures of Treasury officials rather than the president.
Bessent said during the Thursday conference that he doesn’t believe it’s inappropriate to put Trump’s face on a currency.
“I don’t think that there’s anything untoward about having the person who was the president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill,” he said.
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