US President Donald Trump has reportedly pushed for his portrait to be printed on a $250 banknote.
Treasurer Brandon Beach and his adviser, Mike Brown, who were both hand-picked by Trump, urged staff at the US Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing to create mock-ups of the note, according to The Washington Post.
The president himself is said to have discussed designs with the artist.
The banknote would mark the United States’ 250th anniversary. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Thursday (US time) that he did not think there was “anything untoward” about having the person who was president at the time of the anniversary on the bill.
He said that there was legislation in Congress to potentially change the law that prevents living people from appearing on US currency. The mock-ups were created to prepare for if the bill passed Congress, he said.
“At present, 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 Senate to change the first requirement so that a living person – Donald J. Trump – could be on the $250 bill.”
He continued: “So we’ve prepared in advance that if the legislation is passed, we will stick to the law.”
The bill before Congress was introduced to the House in February last year by Republican congressman Joe Wilson and has made little progress.
Treasury employees told The Washington Post that alarm bells were raised over the request, as it is illegal in the US to print or engrave images of living people on the country’s currency.
Beach is said to have provided bureau staff with designs for the note, including one that showed an image of the US president in the middle of the note, and signed by Trump and Bessent.
In a mock-up of the note, obtained by The Washington Post, it was Trump’s 2023 mugshot that appeared to have been used. The image was taken at Fulton County Jail on August 24, 2023, following his indictment on election racketeering charges.
According to Ian Alexander, the British artist who claims to have designed the note, Trump asked for tweaks to the design, including adding the colours of the US flag and a logo commemorating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.
Alexander told the Post that Trump refers to him as his “favourite British artist”.
A living person has not appeared on a US banknote since 1886. The practice was outlawed after a mid-level treasury secretary’s portrait was featured on a 5¢ note.
A spokesman for the Treasury told the Post that the office “is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” in response to the proposal.
The Telegraph, London
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
