Trump officials at the Treasury Department are pushing to create a new $250 bill with the president’s face on to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, according to a report.
The mock-up of the proposed bill was obtained by The Washington Post and features President Donald Trump’s portrait in the center, along with the words “250 AMERICA.”
A similar design was shared by GOP Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr in January, who posted a picture holding a giant mock-up of the $250 note, alongside U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, one of the Trump appointees who has “repeatedly urged staff” at the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing agency to press ahead with the bill, according to the Post.
Artist Iain Alexander, a British painter who designed the mock-up of the note shared by Barr, told the Post that Trump “absolutely loved it.”
Under federal law, only deceased people can appear on currency, and the last time a living person did was in 1866, when it was outlawed.
In a statement to the newspaper, a Treasury spokesperson said the printing agency “is conducting appropriate planning and due diligence” with the $250 bill.
“Should this legislative mandate be signed into law, the BEP is moving proactively to produce a $250 commemorative note which will appropriately recognize the 250th Anniversary of our great nation,” the spokesperson added.
A former director of the agency, Larry R. Felix, said a $250 note is “not statutorily authorized” without an act of Congress and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent “has to be given authority to do that.”
The Treasury spokesperson added that Beach has “never asked staff to print the bill before congressional passage.”
Former and current employees told the outlet that it can take six to eight years to produce a new bill, “particularly one of such high value.”
It follows plans to roll out gold coins bearing Trump’s likeness, which are also unlikely to be ready in time for America’s 250th birthday.
“These guys think you can just print something overnight and it’s going to work in an ATM. It’s just crazy,” an employee told the Post. “It takes years and years and years to produce these notes so they are reliable for the public.”
The director of the printing bureau, Patricia “Patty Solimene,” was reassigned from her role in late April by Treasury management after she and other staffers reportedly explained to Beach and his senior adviser, Mike Brown, that producing the $250 note would take years.
“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,” another staffer told the newspaper.
In a farewell message to her colleagues, obtained by the Post, Solimene said that she “never sacrificed the values or character of myself or the organization” and that “the buck stopped here.”
GOP South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson drafted legislation for Trump to appear on a $250 bill in February 2025, which was referred to the House Financial Services Committee but has not received a hearing.
His office told the Post that Bessent and Trump “have spoken with Rep. Wilson about their support for this on multiple occasions.”
