Vanity Fair magazine was the first to report on the plan, according to its sources, the new banknotes are to go into circulation in the coming months. Vanity Fair also points out that there is no precedent in the history of the United States for the name of the current tenant of the White House to appear on American currency. American banknotes usually bear the signatures of the Secretary of Finance and the Treasurer of the United States, it is his name that Trump wants to replace on the dollars.
This is another case where Trump named American cultural institutions or symbols after himself or lent his face to them, AP reminds. The notable ones include, in particular, the renaming of the American Peace Institute, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and new classes of battleships. Giant banners with Trump’s portrait have also appeared in recent months at a number of federal buildings, including the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture and, most recently, the Department of Justice. In addition, Trump is blocking funding for the construction of a tunnel under the Hudson River in New York in an attempt to get Democrats to support renaming Washington’s Dulles Airport and New York’s Penn Station after him.
The plan to put the signatures of the acting head of the White House on dollar bills comes hand in hand with the proposal to produce a commemorative coin with his likeness to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Last week, the proposal for a 24-karat gold coin was unanimously approved by the American Commission for Fine Arts, whose members Trump fired last October and replaced them with his allies in January.
In accordance with custom, the signature of Finance Minister Scott Bessent will continue to appear on the new banknotes. He said in a press release that “there is no more effective way to appreciate the historical achievements of our great country” than to issue dollar bills with Trump’s name on them. The current treasurer of the USA, Brandon Beach, who is supposed to make room for Trump on the banknotes, then stated in a statement that the printing of Trump’s signature on the American currency “is not only appropriate, but mainly deserved”.
