Jun 2, 2026
President Trump wants to memorialize himself on a new $250 bill — something that has never been done, as federal law allows only deceased people to appear on currency.
According to the Washington Post, U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown, supplied the Bureau of Engraving and Printing with a prototype of the note featuring the president’s portrait and signature.
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Legislation that would allow Trump’s image on a $250 bill was introduced in Congress last year but has since stalled. A Treasury Department spokesperson said the printing office “is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence,” should the legislative mandate be signed into law.
Bureau employees, however, say there are legal and procedural hurdles and that clearing those could take years, which means the bill likely will not come to fruition in time for the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4.
‘We’re not authorized to do this’
According to the Post, employees of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing — including director Patricia Solimene — said Treasury officials dismissed their concerns.
“She had told them we’re not authorized to do this. We can’t progress any further, and all the stakeholders have not even met to discuss the next steps,” said one bureau employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Currency often takes six to eight years to produce a new bill, particularly one of such high value.”
Solimene, the first woman to serve as director of the bureau, said Treasury abruptly reassigned her on April 27 — a move she said was “not my choice” in a farewell email obtained by the Post. Solimene added that she “never sacrificed the values or character of myself or the organization and always prioritized the U.S. Currency Program and the value each employee brings to the mission.”
A Treasury statement said Beach never asked staff to print the bill before congressional passage.
Brown, the former senior adviser to Beach, has been named Solimene’s successor as the bureau’s acting director. Moneywise reached out to Solimene, who responded by saying she preferred not to comment on the matter. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing did not respond to our request for comment.
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According to the Post, Solimene and her staff previously approved an administration request to print $100 bills bearing Trump’s signature, the first time a sitting president’s signature has appeared on U.S. currency.
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Bessent draws parallels with Coolidge
Former bureau director Larry R. Felix said it took more than a decade to design and print the $100 bill, which features dozens of embedded security features to prevent counterfeiting. A new $250 bill would have to go through Congress, the Federal Reserve, the Secret Service and private-sector partners, the Post reported.
“It’s all up on Capitol Hill. At Treasury, we prepare things in advance. So we have prepared, in advance, that if the legislation is passed, but we will stick to the law,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News.
Bessent drew parallels with a Calvin Coolidge coin printed during the nation’s 150th anniversary while Coolidge was president. “I think it’s fitting,” Bessent added.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, was among the Democrats who opposed it.
“By the end of Trump’s term, it’ll be just enough to buy one gallon of gas and a carton of eggs,” she wrote in a post on X.
A limited number of passports featuring a portrait of Trump will be released as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. A State Department official told Fox News, the new designs will be available to “any American citizen” who applies at a Washington Passport Agency when the rollout begins. Congressional approval was not required for the design.
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Amanda Smith is an Australian freelance journalist and writer based in the New York City area who reports on culture/society, technology, and health.
