Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent did not get a positive response after appearing on Fox News host Jesse Watters' program to show off bills that include President Donald Trump's signature set to enter circulation soon in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday.
Federal law generally prohibits depicting living people on U.S. currency. However, the Treasury Department has argued that the Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020, which Trump signed during his first term, provides the administration with legal authority to make an exception for commemorative designs tied to the nation's semiquincentennial celebrations.
Bessent, appearing on Jesse Watters Primetime, said:
“As Treasury Secretary, I only have two mandates: The currency has to say, ‘In God We Trust,’ somewhere on it, and there cannot be an image of a living person. But, we have the president’s signature, which again, I think it is appropriate for the 250th."
"During that 150th, there was a Calvin Coolidge coin. So, we can put living people’s images on a coin.”
The segment included footage of newly minted $1 coins bearing Trump's likeness.
The coin Bessent displayed to Watters did not appear to be the 24-karat commemorative gold coin approved by the federal Commission of Fine Arts in March, which depicts Trump from the waist up with his fists resting on a desk. Instead, it appeared to be the legal-tender $1 coin slated for general circulation as part of the nation's 250th anniversary commemorations.
Bessent then showed off bills featuring Trump's signature that he said were "hot off the presses" and when Watters touched them, Bessent cautioned:
"Don't smudge it [Trump's signature]."
You can watch what happened in the video below.
An image of the bills in question can be seen below.
Fox News
Critics quickly shared their disdain for the change, saying it offers further evidence of Trump's narcissism.
This is the latest development in Trump's effort to place his name and face at the center of American governance.
It recently emerged that Trump approved a proposed design featuring his portrait on a new $250 bill bearing his signature, despite longstanding federal law barring living people from appearing on U.S. currency.
According to four current and former Treasury Department employees who spoke to the Washington Post anonymously out of fear of retaliation, two political appointees at the department repeatedly pressed Bureau of Engraving and Printing staff beginning last year to develop prototype designs for the bill.
Bureau staff ultimately produced several mockups, including one depicting Trump’s face at the center of the $250 note between the signatures of the president and Bessent, according to one employee. The Post, which broke the story, said it also reviewed documents supporting the account.
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