The White House is pushing for President Donald Trump's face to be featured on a newly designed $250 bill. If passed, he would become the first living president to achieve this feat.
During a press conference held at the White House, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that work is underway to print a newly designed $250 currency note with President Trump's face on it. Bessent stated that this move is intended to mark the 250th anniversary of US Independence.
On May 28, The Washington Post was the first to report on the introduction of the new currency. It stated that US law forbids the printing of the face of a living US president on circulating currency. However, Bessent said that the required legislation to change the standing law has been introduced in the House and Senate.
Efforts to bring the new currency design into effect are alleged to have begun last year. The Washington Post claims that US Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown, "repeatedly urged staff at the agency's Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare prototypes of the note". In August and September 2025, Beach is said to have supplied BEP staff with 'mock-up' designs of the note.
The Washington Post identified the designer of the mock-up as British painter Iain Alexander. He said that Trump had directed changes to his original design by adding the red, white, and blue of the American flag and a symbol to commemorate 250 years of American Independence.
The Trump administration has already begun taking action against people who have shown defiance of the proposal. The Washington Post said that Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Patricia Solimene, was transferred from her post on April 27 because she had allegedly pointed out the hurdles to the currency's implementation. The Washington Post spoke with current and former employees of the BEP, who said that Solimene and other employees of the Bureau "explained to Beach and Brown that there were legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note and that it would take years longer than they envisioned". The employees said that Solimene had told them the Bureau had no authority in this matter and that a new currency bill would take six to eight years to come into circulation.
The Washington Post further said that "designing and printing any new note... necessitates extensive coordination with the Federal Reserve, the Secret Service, and private sector partners". Solimene is said to have written in her last email to the employees that it was not her decision to take charge of another post. Bureau staff also told The Washington Post that the Trump administration had also approached them to start printing $100 bills with Trump's signature.
According to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the US Congress had prohibited images of living US presidents from being printed on currency notes, bonds, and securities. However, even with this law in place, the 1926 Sesquicentennial Half Dollar contained the image of then-living President Calvin Coolidge.
Business Standard said that banners with President Trump's face are already hanging in the buildings of the Department of Justice and other federal buildings. His name has been added to the national performing arts facility at the Kennedy Center, which is a memorial for John F. Kennedy. In April, the State Department had planned to add President Trump's face to a limited-edition passport to commemorate the 250th year of American Independence.
