The US Treasury unveiled a draft design to feature President Donald Trump in US currency, with a $1 commemorative coin bearing his face to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, touching off legal questions and partisan debate over whether a living president should appear on US money.
Images shared on X by US Treasurer Brandon Beach and subsequently released by the Treasury show a profile of Trump on the obverse with the word “Liberty” above and the dates “1776-2026” below. The reverse depicts Trump with a raised, clenched fist in front of a U.S. flag and the words “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT”, a reference to words he mouthed after surviving an assassination attempt last year, around the edge of the design.
“No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real,” Beach wrote in the post. A Treasury spokesperson, describing the images as a preliminary mock-up, said the design is not final and that “this first draft reflects well the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, even in the face of immense obstacles.”
No fake news here. These first drafts honoring America’s 250th Birthday and @POTUS are real.
Looking forward to sharing more soon, once the obstructionist shutdown of the United States government is over. https://t.co/c6HChM6ijG
— U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach (@TreasurerBeach) October 3, 2025
Uncertainty Surrounds Legality of Trump Currency Proposal
The proposal quickly prompted scrutiny over the legal limits on depicting living people on U.S. currency. Federal law governing commemorative coins authorizes the Treasury secretary to mint $1 coins “with designs emblematic of the United States semiquincentennial,” but that statute also states that “no head and shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, and no portrait of a living person may be included in the design on the reverse of any coin” issued under the law.
An 1866 law that long has barred living persons from appearing on paper currency applies to notes produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, not commemorative coins struck by the US Mint. Legal experts have said the draft coin’s wider illustration of Trump on the reverse may be intended to avoid the literal “head and shoulders” portrait prohibition, but questions remain whether the draft would comply with the anniversary-coin restrictions.
Trump would ‘Love the draft’
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said she did not know whether Trump had seen the draft but added, “I’m sure he’ll love it.” Treasurer Beach said the agency would provide more information after the federal government emerges from a partial shutdown.
The announcement drew swift political pushback from Democrats. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said he planned to introduce legislation he called the TRUMP Act, the Restrict Ugly Money Portraits Act, that would bar any president from issuing currency with his or her own likeness and require US currency to feature only deceased individuals.
Commemorative coins are legal tender but are not usually minted for general circulation, and the Mint has issued commemoratives in recent years honoring deceased Americans. The Treasury has produced commemorative quarters and other collectible coins in the past, including the 1976 bicentennial designs chosen after a national competition; that $1 coin featured the Liberty Bell and the moon. Treasury officials said the design process for semiquincentennial coins is ongoing and that a final $1 coin design has not been selected.
