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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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On October 6, the Treasury Department announced that Secretary Scott Bessent has instructed the issuing of special coinage to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026, adding: “There is no profile more emblematic for the front of this coin than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump.”
The move has sparked controversy with a number of commentators arguing it is illegal due to an 1866 American law which they say prohibits living people from being displayed on coinage. Speaking to Newsweek, one attorney said he expects the final decision to come “from the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Newsweek contacted the Treasury Department for comment by email on Wednesday outside of regular office hours.
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Why it Matters
No president has had their profile on U.S. currency while they were alive in American history, making this a dramatic departure from protocol.
A number of Republican politicians have suggested Trump’s depiction should be added to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, demonstrating the president’s firm control over his party.
On June 14, thousands of soldiers marched past Trump in Washington, D.C., in what was billed as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. However, critics noted the date also coincided with the president’s birthday, with Republican Senator Rand Paul comparing it to “images you saw of the Soviet Union and North Korea.”
What To Know
On October 3, Steve Guest, a conservative commentator, shared an image on X of a new one-dollar coin with Trump’s profile on one side, and a picture of the president clenching his fist along with the words “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT” on the other. This was a reference to Trump’s response immediately after he narrowly survived an assassination at a rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024.
Guest wrote that thanks to Secretary Bessent ,Trump would “forever be the face of America’s 250th Birthday.” His post was shared by the official X account of U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, who added: “No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS [President Donald J. Trump] are real. Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over.”
Three days later, the official Treasury Department shared Beach’s post, adding: “America’s 250th Birthday is a celebration of our nation’s strength and leadership on the global stage.
“@SecScottBessent is honored to exercise the authorities granted to him by Congress via the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020 to issue coinage ‘with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial’ reflecting @POTUS and his vision for America. On this momentous anniversary, there is no profile more emblematic for the front of this coin than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump.”
The post added that more details about the Trump anniversary coin would be shared “soon.”
This post sparked outrage, with critics arguing it has been illegal to depict living individuals on American currency since an 1866 Act of Congress, which, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, was designed “to avoid the appearance of a monarchy.”
However, the Trump administration insists it does have legal authority via the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which gave permission for the minting of special coins to mark the United States’s 250th birthday.
According to CBS News, while producing standard coins featuring a living person is clearly prohibited, “there may be more leeway with commemorative coins produced by the U.S. Mint.”
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Speaking to Newsweek, defense attorney John W. Day of The John Day Law Office, said he expects the final decision will be made by the Supreme Court.
Day commented: “This is another Donald Trump challenge to the status quo that will likely end up in the federal courts; existing federal law is clear that no living person may be depicted on currency — apparently in response to an egotistical 19th century U.S. Mint director who put his own face on coins until he was halted in his tracks — but whether the issue was resolved by the 2020 commemorative coin law remains to be seen.
“The 2020 law puts some limits on who can be on the 'tails' side of a coin, but seems silent on who can be on the 'head' part. The point of the old federal law seemed to be to avoid just this conflict, where putting a current leader on the currency was a way to avoid the appearance of a monarchy.
“The answer ultimately will come from the U.S. Supreme Court that will address yet another Trump challenge to how things are, and have been, done.”
What People Are Saying
On X, author and former National Review editor Jonah Goldberg wrote: “If you need to break the law and tradition to put Trump on a coin to have some enthusiasm for the 250th anniversary of the founding, I question your patriotism. Trump’s ego and his lickspittles’ desire to feed it, should have nothing to do with commemorating the founding.”
Constitutional law Professor Anthony Michael Kreis on X wrote: “That $1 Trump coin? Not lawful in any meaningful sense of the word, but is there a viable judicial remedy? Unlikely. And is it patently illegal? Perhaps not if you apply hyper-strict textualism.”
The official ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ X account posted: “Because historically the only thing less popular in this country than Trump are the attempts to get us to start using a one-dollar coin.”
What Happens Next
If the Treasury does attempt to introduce a commemorative coin featuring Trump to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, it would likely face legal challenge.
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