US Treasury to put Trump’s signature on new paper currency in first for sitting president

The US Treasury Department plans to put President Donald Trump’s signature on all new US paper currency, the agency announced Thursday.

The move would be a first for a sitting president, since traditionally, US paper currency carries the signatures of the treasury secretary and the treasurer, not the president.

It is the latest instance of Trump putting his name and likeness on American cultural institutions, following his renaming of the US Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue, and a new class of battleships, among other tributes.

The plans come in tandem with an ongoing effort to get Trump’s face on a coin, which has drawn criticism since federal law prohibits the depiction of a living president on US currency.

Earlier this month, a federal arts commission approved the final design for a 24-karat gold commemorative coin bearing Trump’s image to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday on July 4. The vote by the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members are supporters of the Republican president and were appointed by him earlier this year, was without objection.

Treasury says the plan to include Trump’s signature on all new paper currency is intended to honour the nation’s 250th birthday and that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s signature would also appear.

Bessent said in a statement: “There is no more powerful way to recognise the historic achievements of our great country than with US dollar bills bearing Trump’s name”.

Michael Bordo, director of the Center for Monetary and Financial History at Rutgers, said the move will undoubtedly come with political pushback, “but I do not know if he has crossed any legal red lines”, since the treasury secretary may have the authority to decide who signs the currency.

In 1862, Congress authorised the treasury secretary to design and print paper currency, known as “greenbacks,” to finance the Civil War.

The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing is responsible for producing all paper currency, while the US Mint produces all coins. According to the Federal Reserve, more than US$2 trillion in Federal Reserve notes are in circulation.

Democrats criticised the move in part because the announcement comes as Americans face rising costs at the grocery store and the petrol pump. The war in Iran, which began February 28, has caused oil and gas prices to soar, deepening affordability concerns.

Representative Shontel Brown, tweeted Thursday evening that the Treasury plan is “gross and un-American. But at least it will remind us who to thank when we pay more for gas, goods, and groceries”.

US Treasurer Brandon Beach said in a statement that printing Trump’s signature on American currency “is not only appropriate, but also well deserved”.

Bordo added: “It also means that many years from now those bills will be collectors’ items”.