The U.S. Department of the Treasury announces the issuance of a $1 Trump commemorative coin, breaking the convention of not printing portraits of living figures
The U.S. Mint will issue a $1 commemorative coin bearing the portrait of current President Donald Trump to coincide with this year's series of commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the news in a post on social platform X. The front of the $1 coin features a portrait of Trump wearing a suit and tie. This commemorative coin previously had another version of the design: Trump stood behind the "Resolute Desk" with his fists clenched. While issuing this commemorative coin, the U.S. Treasury Department also launched another controversial initiative: printing Trump's signature on banknotes. The U.S. Treasury Department announced as early as March that the new banknotes would bear the signatures of both Trump and Bessant, replacing the Treasury Secretary's signature that has been printed on U.S. currency for about 165 years. The first batch of hundred-dollar bills bearing Trump's signature began circulating around Independence Day. Although U.S. law prohibits portraits of living people from being printed on currency. But the U.S. Treasury Department argued that the Circulation Commemorative Coin Redesign Act of 2020, signed into law during Trump’s first term, allowed the current administration to make an exception for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The U.S. Congress has also taken action on the matter. Representative Jimmy Gomez submitted a bill to prohibit the current president's signature from being printed on currency or securities; however, the bill must be passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president before it can truly halt the currency reform. In April this year, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley also wrote to Bessant respectively, questioning the reasons behind changing the signature on banknotes.