President Donald Trump has long practiced the art of branding expensive things with his name. Now, he will be taking that tactic to a new level, as the president’s name and signature will appear on U.S. money itself. The move to sign U.S. currency is yet another example of Trump breaking long-standing norms.
Trump’s signature to appear on U.S. money as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary
The U.S. Treasury announced Thursday that Trump’s signature will start appearing on U.S. currency. The administration presented the change as a part of this year’s celebrations of the 250th anniversary of American independence. The move is an unusual one, as it will be the first time a sitting U.S. president’s signature will appear on the country’s money. Since “greenbacks” were first issued by the federal government in 1862 to help pay for the Civil War, officials of the U.S. Treasury have typically had their signatures appear on the paper bills. Beginning in 1914, the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. Treasurer’s signatures have appeared on American money. Trump’s signature will appear alongside that of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, replacing the signature of U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach.
In a press release issued by the Treasury Department, both Bessent and Beach celebrated the change to American money. “Under President Trump’s leadership, we are on a path toward unprecedented economic growth, lasting dollar dominance, and fiscal strength and stability,” Bessent said in the statement. “There is no more powerful way to recognize the historic achievements of our great country and President Donald J. Trump than U.S dollar bills bearing his name, and it is only appropriate that this historic currency be issued at the Semiquincentennial.” Beach also commented on the addition of Trump’s signature in place of his own. “As the 250th anniversary of our great nation approaches, American currency will continue to stand as a symbol of prosperity, strength, and the unshakable spirit of the American people under President Trump’s leadership,” Beach said in the statement. “The President’s mark on history as the architect of America’s Golden Age economic revival is undeniable. Printing his signature on the American currency is not only appropriate, but also well deserved.”
Trump’s latest branding exercise is reminiscent of kings, not U.S. presidents
The addition of Trump’s signature to U.S. currency is the latest example of Trump’s penchant for using his name for branding. As a businessman, Trump often attached his name and brand to his ventures, such as various Trump Tower buildings. As president, Trump had his signature appear on millions of economic stimulus checks mailed out during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his second term, Trump has sought to have his face appear on both a one-dollar coin and a 24-carat-gold commemorative coin. Trump’s handpicked board governing the Kennedy Center added Trump’s name to the institution, a move condemned by members of the Kennedy family and deemed illegal by experts.
Although the Treasury Department has the authority to make this change for Trump, some people have expressed concern about the signal that a sitting president sends by having his name appear on the nation’s money. “I mean, you know, George Washington once said that only kings put their faces on coins,” Aidan McLaughlin, Washington correspondent for Vanity Fair, told NPR, “and the founders spoke a lot about how corrosive this kind of Caesarism was to the, you know, idea of the American project. So it is totally unprecedented.” McLaughlin acknowledged the administration’s authority for making the change: “But the only thing stopping a president from doing something like this is, you know, I guess, a fealty to those American ideals,” he said.
Catherine Stoddard at LiveNow Fox reported that “the first $100 bills that will bear the president’s signature will be printed in June.” This means that Americans are only months away from seeing the president’s name appear on their money for the first time in their country’s history.